A Helen Keller moment

For the longest time, I've been seeing if I can get The Kid to blow on a trumpet, the correct way: buzzing yer lips.

Whenever I take out my trumpet -- one of the few instrument where I can get out of its hiding place easily, and doesn't require much set-up -- she'll come over to where I'm sitting on the sofa, climb up, and sit next to me. (O.k. -- sometimes I lift her up, and sometimes she stands in front of me.)

I'll toodle away on it, and she'll reach out and grab the mouthpice, and put it in her mouth, and blow. And of course, there' s no particular sound, because with trumpets (and other brass instruments), you gotta buzz your lips to get a sound.

I'll gently take it out of her mouth, and show her, ''No, no -- you need to buzz your lips -- like this'' -- and I'll demonstrate. She'll blow a rasperry, and I'll hand the trumpet end back to her -- at which point she stops buzzing, and engulfs the entire mouthpiece. Repeat, repeat.


Tonight, however, on the second time, she actually continued buzzing -- and got a trumpet sound! And, she continued doing it. Pretty decent tone, too -- considering she's only 20 months old, and doesn't talk yet.

I call this a ''Helen Keller'' moment: When Anne Sullivan was trying to show Helen that all the different things had names, and kept fingerspelling the names of items -- and Helen finally twigged to it with water: ''W-A-T-E-R'' = ''that cold wet stuff coming out of the pump''? Kinda like that.

The Kid seemed pleased with herself. Kept tooting and tooting and tooting: started getting a little light-headed/hyperventillated, I think. ;)

Showed The Kid's trumpet-playing skills to The Lady, fearing it was just a fluke and not reproduceable. But, The Kid did it again.


A good parlour trick. ;)


(O.k. -- that's probably enough of the ''proud parent'' posts for a while. Hearing about other people's kids' accomplishments can be a bit... boring.) ;)


--GG