A Song for My Calliope

I've written countless songs for and inspired by the Boo. Some of the songs-- Ok, most of the songs are kind of silly. The Booby Song comes to mind here. But some of the songs are more poignant. The first one was a little ditty about how his birth created a family and how, no matter how much he grows, he will always be my darling little baby. He asks for me to sing it to him almost every night before he goes to sleep.
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As Calliope's gotten older and more aware, I've started singing to her, too. The problem, however, is that I had not yet penned a song for her, and I'd begun to feel quite guilty of the fact. So in recent weeks, I began trying to come up with melodies and lyrics to capture the essence of my daughter. I realized quickly that Calliope's song would have to be different from Benjamin's song because Calliope and Benjamin are two different creatures. Terrible Two's notwithstanding, Benjamin is a fairly mellow child with a calm demeanor. In this way, he resembles his father. Calliope on the other hand... Well, Calliope resembles... me.
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Even at four months of age, I can already tell that I'm going to have my hands full with this one. Her rather vocal nature became apparent even as a newborn. I remember that after I had already checked out of the hospital but was still returning daily to see her in the NICU, the night shift nurses would shake their heads and laugh when they saw me, saying, "You've got a feisty one on your hands. When she wants something, oh, she will let you know." And it was that very feistiness that ended up shaping my first song for her.

Before you start thinking, "What are you talking about? She looks as sweet as an angel in that video!" check out this previous take:

Calliope, I love you so much - feistiness and all!