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| a sweet little Ellie angel |
Awesome:
* Landon has formed a natural path through the front room with a stop at the piano for a quick 'heart and soul' or 'pizza rat' or another favorite song or two pretty much every time he walks though the room.
* Ellie told me today "Listen! I just learned three new songs!" and then played Deck the Halls, Fairest little Jesus Child, and Once within a Lowly Stable that she'd figured out by ear. I love this!
* The kids both quickly learned the right hand part to Jingle Bells during Christmas break (Landon reading the music I'd printed and Ellie by ear). It was so super fun to sit by them and play a little Jingle Bell duet again and again!
Still to figure out:
* Although both Ellie and Landon sit down to play nearly every day, neither of them actually practice what we're working on in lessons. They are both loving to play the piano, so I haven't wanted to push the official practicing too hard. But at some point they do need to practice some of the basics to improve, right?
* A young woman from our ward comes over every Monday to watch Porter and Owen so I can give focused piano lesson time to Ellie and Landon. This has been super great, except that Porter more and more wants to just be where I am which makes it pretty hard to teach. I don't know what the solution is. I'm sure I could just let him watch Jake-a-pirates and he'd be happy, but I'd still rather find a way for him to have a happy play time with Owen and the babysitter... So I'm not sure, but we've had a little break for Christmas so maybe we can figure it out as we jump back in.
Overall:
Hooray for all the happy piano playing filling our home these days!
