His first language is music.

Over the past 16 months, our home has been filled with every-increasing laughter. Our son is a fearless performer who loves to make his folks laugh. J is always on the move, entertainingly testing his boundaries. One of his favorite activities is to turn on iTunes and tap the keyboard furiously until one of his favorite tracks plays. J loves music. Now, I thought I loved music, but I don't think we ever played nearly as much music in our home as J demands. Along with laughter, the most common sound in our home is a drum beat.

J will dance to just about any style of music. The song could be a 30-second iPad commercial. The beat may originate from the laundry room dryer. It could be Carl and the band covering Muse. Often it's the Glee soundtrack or his daddy's Joy Electric collection. J will immediately identify just the right dance move and - boom - he is off! But, he doesn't really like to dance alone. At minimum, he wants our undivided attention on the joy he's having. Mostly, he wants us to get in on the act. The more idiotic we look, the wider the smile on J's face.

He connects with us over this constant activity. It's as natural to him as breathing. Every day, he gets a new groove and wants to find a new beat to which he can jam. Just the other day, J discovered that he could get both feet moving at the very same time. The sheer enthusiasm this new ability produced in our son should be bottled and sold for a mint. J keeps pulling me over to his "Elmo" drum set (as if I have any skill that he hasn't already surpassed...) He connects to everything through music.

As our family grows, we're going to be filling this home with a lot of different languages and I'm sure that in our zeal to bring our kids' birth cultures to life in the day to day, we're going to feel exhausted and overwhelmed. But, there is something so beautifully inspiring about the organic connections that develop as we attach to one another.

J's tummy mommy told Libby and me about how important music was to her and her family. Before we had even seen his face on the sonogram, she extended an authentic wish for music to be valued in J's life. This language and the celebration of dance that it inspires connects J to his birth heritage and ties us into his story every single day.

We love to hear J's voice and can't wait to hear his thoughts through the many pathways of language. But, his native tongue of music will thrive as he grows and Libby and I will continue to fan that felicitous flame.

Gracias,

Jeremy