CATCHING A FALLING STAR

The lyrics of Perry Como's hit song "Catching a falling star" are so beautiful:

"Catch A Falling Star"

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day

For love may come and tap you on the shoulder some starless night
Just in case you feel you want to hold her
You'll have a pocketful of starlight

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day

For love may come and tap you on the shoulder some starless night
Just in case you feel you want to hold her
You'll have a pocketful of starlight
(Pocketful of starlight, hm,hm,hm,hm,hm,hm)

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day

(Save it for a rainy, save it for a rainy, rainy, rainy, day)

For when your troubles start multiplyin' and they just might
It's easy to forget them without tryin'
With just a pocketful of starlight

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day

(Save it for a rainy day)
Save it for a rainy day

Writer(s): Lee Pockriss, Lee Julien Pockriss, Paul Vance
Copyright: Music Sales Corporation, Emily Music Corp.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

MA VA LA (THE LITTLE FROG)

Both Mew and Tom have recently become addicted to listening to this song originally written by a Vietnamese composer Phan Nhan (Chu Ech Con) and converted into Italian to be presented in an international children music programme on RAI channel of Italy in 2003. It was proudly and confidently performed by Huong Tra, a 8-year-old Vietnamese school girl, together with an orchestra of Italian girls and boys.

TOMMY IS 3 MONTHS OLD

And here is the development charts of Tommy: both his weight and height are higher than 77% of the children of the same age of 3 months. Yay for a breastfed baby boy! Way to go!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! BONNE FETES DES MERES!

Roméo Maman Lyrics:

Maman, oh Maman toi qui m'a donné

Tant de tendresse depuis tant d'années

Tu le sais bien quand je serai grand

Je penserai à toi Maman

Maman oh Maman le jour et la nuit

Je veillerai toujours sur ta vie

Je serai là à tous les instants

Pour te protéger Maman

Je te promets si jamais tu pleures

De te serrer fort sur mon coeur

Il n'y aura pas d'amour aussi grand

Que mon amour pour toi Maman

Maman oh Maman quand tu me souris

C'est un soleil qui chasse la pluie

J'essaierai de sourire au temps

Chaque jour pour toi Maman

Je te promets si jamais tu pleures

De te serrer fort sur mon coeur

Il n'y aura pas d'amour aussi grand

Que mon amour pour toi Maman

Maman, oh Maman toi qui m'a donné

Tant de tendresse depuis tant d'années

Tu le sais bien quand je serai grand

Je penserai à toi Maman

Tu le sais bien quand je serai grand

Je penserai à toi Maman

MY FAVORITE SONG FOR TODAY

Are you expecting? I would love to share with you part of my collection of the best quotations to inspire you during your 40-week-long adventure with a tiny being inside your womb.

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” - Elizabeth Stone

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, a home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for." - Unknown

"Children are the purpose of life. We were once children and someone took care of us. Now it is our turn to care." - Cree elder

"Children . . . they string our joys, like jewels bright, upon the thread of years." - Edward A. Guest

"When morning sickness hits, remember this: The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." - Dolly Parton

"A mother holds her children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever" - Unknown

"A mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside... when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone." - Unknown

HAPPY PREGNANCY!

UNE SOURIS VERTE

Mew has just learnt the nursery rhyme "Une souris verte" (A green mouse) at school and she amazed us by singing almost fluently the whole song the day before yesterday. She even can understand the meaning of the song and translate it for us. To mark her progress in French, I attach here the original video and a video of Mew singing the same song:

The original song:

And here is Mew singing the song:

DREAM OF HAVING AN AMATEUR PIANIST AT HOME

We both have no music talent unfortunately. My hubbie loves listening to music but he does not know how to play any musical instrument. And despite my parents' great effort and investment to discover any untapped artist talent inside me, they eventually gave up after my private keyboard tutor frankly told them that I am kind of music deaf. And the only music-related thing I could keep in my mind is simply the beginning music notes of the song "Silent Night" which starts with "sol la sol mi...".

As a result, we hope to invest in Mew's music appreciation ability since her school age so that she can know how to play a musical instrument. Needless to say, even being an amateur music player, she will have more advantage in her personal and social life. Therefore, on her birthday, we decided to give her a musical keyboard (after having consulted with her of course). Mew had no clear idea of which instrument she liked or wanted to play so we chose the electronic keyboard which seems to be easy to play and carry. If she expresses any substantial interest in this keyboard, we will upgrade to a piano and invite a private tutor to teach her formally. 

I tried to google some easy piano lessons online so that I myself can imitate and learn to play the keyboard first then teach Mew later. It was a bit difficult initially when I even could not read the music note. But with some more searches, I finally found out something really useful for a beginner. Moreover, I learnt from our keyboard's guide book that this one has some teaching functions so that a player could simply repeat the same music keys on the screen in order to play well some popular songs. My husband now even can play the song "When the Saints go marching in" and I can play other very simple songs such as "Happy Birthday to you", "Twinkle twinkle little stars' and "Frere Jacques". How amazing it it! Mew has been able to play the first part of the song "When the Saints go marching in" and I noticed that her fingers worked very well on the keyboard. However, she has not yet developed a great interest in playing keyboard so we still have to wait and see.

Here are some very useful website to learn it yourself how to play pianos:

- A virtual keyboard-piano: You can even play the music on a keyboard/piano anytime without having one. Fantastic!
- Youtube video to teach you hand-on experience of playing the song "When the Saints go marching in"- this is my first online piano lesson ever!

- Music Tech teacher can help you to play the keyboard/piano with or without the official knowledge of music notes. Go to the section "Flash Piano Practice Keyboards" to find samples of songs including Frere Jacques, Jingle Bells, My country tis of thee, Chpstix, Ode to joy, Twinkle twinkle, When the saints go marching in, Surprise symphony, and Love somebody. Extremely useful for a beginner!
- 5 video lessons will have you learning the basics, and playing your first song, in less than fifteen minutes!
- Ready to venture more into the realm of music? Music Theory Online is a great site that teaches you all aspects of musical theory in a series of Flash-based lessons. Learn about notes, clefs, scales and much more.
- Music for a phone keypad can help you to kill the waiting time for fun.

Good luck with your kid's (and maybe your own) music journey!