Unconventional lullabies

I have to admit - I’m not very good at lullabies.  I can hum them, but when it comes to singing, it’s often too high of a key, then I forget what all the words are, and then I start making things up, and it goes down hill from there.  Plus, before having Jillian, when did I ever really have the need to sing a lullaby?  They aren’t really the kind of songs you rock out to in the car while playing the steering wheel drums (oh… did I just admit to doing that?!  Yes. Yes I did.)  And I recall an awful time trying to remember a lullaby to calm my niece, and all I could come up with was the Battle Hymn of the Republic (My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…).  Not good.

I remember some of the early days with Jillian very vividly.  I was breastfeeding at the time, and was up every 2-3 hours at night to feed her.  She often couldn’t latch, and therefore couldn’t eat, and when she did latch it was like toe-curling pain for me.  We were both very cranky.  She’d cry b/c she was hungry and sleepy, I’d cry because I couldn’t feed her and was exhausted – it was miserable.  One night, I got the bright idea – let’s try singing!  THAT should calm her down!  But that’s when the problem hit – I couldn’t for the life of me think of a song to sing.  No soothing baby lullabies were popping in to my head.  Thanks to her little Glo-worm, I know them now (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mockingbird, Frere Jacques, etc), but they were definitely NOT coming to me then, at 2:30 in the morning, when we were both crying. 

So what did I do?  I improvised.

The only songs back then that did pop into my head were rock-out-in-the-car songs.  So I created my own lullabies.  Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas became one (sung softly and with less emphasis on the booms), though it was pretty awful.  One favorite was “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses (infinitely better than Boom Boom Pow – and Jillian does have ‘eyes of the bluest sky’).  Matt would sing “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley – she still loves that.  And another favorite that was a popular song last fall, and that really did the trick in the early days was “Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti.  It’s still one of her favorites today.

But my all-time favorite is “More” by Matthew West.  Matthew West is a Christian music artist. I’ve been listening to Christian radio for about 5 years now – it’s a really nice and encouraging start to my day, and calms me while in the throws of rush hour on I-95. I had heard this song before having Jillian, liked it, but didn’t fully appreciate the lyrics and the beauty of the song until I had such a miracle of a child in my arms.  It just popped into my head one day, and stuck.  The song is actually written as a love song from God to us, so it’s just perfect.  I mainly sing the chorus over and over to Jillian when I rock her to sleep, and I can tell she knows that it’s ‘Mommy’s song’.  She instantly calms down, and knows it’s time to rest. 

So this is one of my ‘unconventional lullabies’, and mine & Jillian’s special song:

"More" by Matthew West

Take a look at the mountains / Stretching a mile high

Take a look at the ocean / Far as your eye can see

And think of Me

Take a look at the desert / Do you feel like a grain of sand?

I am with you wherever / Where you go is where I am

And I'm always thinking of you / Take a look around you

I'm spelling it out one by one.

 

(Chorus)

I love you more than the sun / And the stars that I taught how to shine

You are mine, and you shine for me too

I love you, yesterday and today / And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again

I love you more

 

Just a face in the city / Just a tear on a crowded street

But you are one in a million / And you belong to me

And I want you to know / That I'm not letting go

Even when you come undone

 

(Chorus)

Shine for Me / Shine for Me / Shine on, shine on / Shine for Me

(Chorus)

 

I love you  more than the sun / And the stars that I taught how to shine

You are mine, and you shine for me too

I love you, yesterday and today / Through the joy and the pain

I'll say it again and again

I love you more

 

And I see you / And I made you

And I love you more than you can imagine

More than you can fathom / I love you more than the sun

And you shine for me

 

For a little snippet: (http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Matthew+West:More:242451:s1211234.8134782.2236231.1.1.84%2Cstd_ccf75c5bef0e460b309c22082e76e691)