Little Symphony

I heard about a free concert series this summer put on by the Houston Symphony. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take Tate to hear some music and see some instruments. Most concerts, of course, don't allow 2 year olds and, also a huge bonus, that this concert was for kids and families. They even had an "instrument petting zoo" for the kids if you show up early. We weren't about to miss that. Unfortunately Tate was having a bit of an off day. Short nap plus choosing to skip dinner equals a lack of any expression and enthusiasm, but we're still convinced he loved it.

The drums were a favorite. As was the xylophone and of course, the violin. And we just had to try the French horn. (Don't worry mom. This was sterilized before Tate put it in his mouth.) Despite his blank expression, he was pretty excited about touching all the instruments, although we only knew that he was excited by how reluctant he was for his turn handling them to end. Here we are checking out the double bass. Just like Berlioz the Bear from one of Tate's favorite books.

The concert was so fun. Familiar and exciting music and just the right length for little kiddo. He was feeling better after we let him down his orange juice. A little sugar. That's all he needed to be happy. Pretty soon he was wiggling to the music, pointing to instruments, saying "cool" when he recognized one, and especially excited when he could see the cymbals. It was good fun. At the end we found the tympani and he said, "I want to get the tympani! I can get it!" So we walked up there and looked at them up close. Very exciting stuff, tympani.

It was a fun night. It was great to get out and listen to some beautiful music. I'm glad that Tate enjoys it too.