Whether the baby will like the Mozart music played by the Symphony in Motion mobile in his or her crib is up for debate. Unfortunately, no baby-goods manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to market a mobile that treats infants to the musical stylings of our finicky fetus’ artist of choice — Fatboy Slim.
I’m not sure why the baby starts to “dance” every time we put in one of the electronic-music icon’s CDs. Maybe our wee one’s great ambition is to learn to walk, then buy a fake ID and hit the clubs. Or maybe the baby, who is starting to pick up on sounds from the outside world, is excited by the nice, deep bass. I, for one, would like to think that the baby has good taste in music and would have no reaction whatsoever if we were to play something horrid but bass-y, such as Cypress Hill.
Whatever the reason, it’s guaranteed that within seconds of popping in some Fatboy, the baby will be kicking and somersaulting like a little maniac. In fact, big beat is an even more effective baby wake-up method than a high-protein meal.
At 25 weeks, the baby has been hearing my heartbeat, intestinal noises and voice (conducted via my bones) for the last few months. Now he or she is also capable of hearing louder noises from outside my body, especially low-frequency sounds. For instance, when Daddy talks to my belly, baby is likely to respond by kicking me in the bladder. And when a movie is playing on Nana’s and Poppa’s surround-sound speakers, baby can be expected to squirm around during the explosions.
So chances are, it is merely the window-rattling bass to which the baby is responding, and not Daddy’s excellent choice in funky dance music. I hope so, because while there’s nothing cuter than a baby bouncing around to electronica, I’m not paying for a custom-made, high-end-stereo mobile that incorporates audio “samples” and block-rockin’ beats.
Coming soon: Week 25 belly pics.