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Hallelujah

What an amazing gift I have been given. Having a child is faith that life is much bigger than you. Yes, at times she is annoying and is developing into a bit of a pest these days yet my face hurts from smiling so much. When I look at her my heart melts. In the car the other day, I left Andy to sit in the back. She held my hand. Her breathy way of saying "Nana" takes my own breath away.

My little love and I shared a day together this weekend for a trip to Albany. She was a total joy in the car ride and I adjusted the rear view mirror so I could watch her expression as we "talked." We covered the alphabet many, many times, counted all the words she can say and said them many, many times. And, as I usually like to do, we did some singing. It's been wonderfully scary watching Caroline react to the world and I get a kick out of her clapping when people clap on TV and when she dances to the Friendly's commercial. Back to the car ride: as we traversed historic route 20, the sun bright on our faces, we clapped our hands to Liza Jane, mimicked the chirps of the chickadee and blue jay and enjoyed every song on her folk baby CD. For a change of pace I threw in one of my mixes. And it happened. It happened once at our house so this time I thought it must be a coincidence.

Caroline does not like the Hallelujah song from Shrek. Actually, she hates it. It brings her to tears and not those of joy. I think it is a lovely song and in the privacy of my car I like to reach deep into my soul to belt out the ballad. The first few chords make her face scrunch up and the instant the singing begins her eyes well up and she breaks down. Her lips turn into a full-fledged grimace and she may actually be in pain. If I don't change the song she will lose control. Flip to the next track and it's as though nothing happened. I did this a few times (I know, I'm so mean) to really confirm what I was seeing. Sure thing, my child has an aversion to Hallelujah.

We finished the day with a recap of the alphabet, her entire vocabulary and a final run through of the folk baby CD. We didn't talk about or mention Hallelujah. Maybe like trying out new foods, I'll give it a try in a few more weeks. At least she can't throw a song she doesn't like upside down on the floor.

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