Now: Arlo Guthrie

W spends a lot of time singing. Sometimes she sings familiar songs, like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", other times she sings lyrics of her own creation. Her own songs are very elaborate, narrative songs that tend to go on and on and on. "And then they moved the toys and the pillows over heeeeeeere because that's what the mommy wanted and they said it was gooooooood for the houuuuse and the mommy was happy and then next came the mermaid . . . "

It's been hard to capture one of the W's songs, because the moment she realizes that she is on camera, she stops singing or gets so distracted that she repeats herself, as you can see in the clip below. If you listen closely, you can hear R in the background of this clip, singing "O Christmas Tree, O Baby Jesus", her own little variation on a favorite Christmas carol (even though it is practically summer).

In some ways, W's singing style reminds Mommy and Daddy of the time we saw Arlo Guthrie live in concert - a rambling, narrative monologue; she's a minstrel telling a story, not just singing a song. Of course, W has yet to take on any heady issues like evading the draft or the irony of government bureaucracy but we think it's only a matter of time.