It’s 6:30 on Independence Day and we’ve spent the last two hours in the living room with the TV on. No, I’m not stunting the brain development of our wonderful little man with movies or even childhood programming (although I’m jonesing to see something that has more than a 60 minute running time in a single sitting but that warrants a whole different post). I’m simply finding more ways to justify the $110 monthly subscription to Comcast cable.

Larry has always been a big fan of the “Retro Active” digital music channel (playing 80’s music on Channel 916 — for those in the SF Bay Area) and will listen to it while he’s working. He started this because he’s just not into listening to music through iTunes, streaming through Pandora, or swapping out CDs every 45 minutes. I recently moved our iPod and speakers into Walker’s room because I wanted to be able to play ocean waves all night long in an attempt to lull him into a full night’s sleep. And no, it hasn’t been working but I still have hopes it will miraculously cure him of his frequent nightly waking. So, there’s no longer any music in the living room. And when we’re playing with a ball or a car or the stacking rings for an hour or two, the silence is a bit disconcerting. Also, Walker is such a big fan of music. He loves to listen to different songs and you can see his eyes light up and today he even tried dancing a bit with a bob or two of his head. (Generally there’s lots of clapping and now there’s a bit of rapid deep knee bends while holding on to something.) It finally occurred to me that perhaps, in the zillions of channels there might be something appropriate for Walker. And on channel 922, we found music programming called Kids Only. It’s for older kids but it’s interesting to listen to for both Walker and Parents with some remixes of Devo, Speed Racer and other songs because really, nothing new is being made. It’s all “re-imagining” the old stuff.

So, while I’m not watching as much TV anymore, I can feel better each month when paying the obscenely large cable bill.

Walker saw some live music today with a big band playing patriotic music in the Band Shell in Golden Gate Park. We hung around listening to them after being chased out of the DeYoung Museum (I guess they don’t like children in backpacks — front packs and strollers are OK but not backpacks).

In just a few short minutes I expect to hear fireworks. I finally got Walker to sleep (yes, like most things these days, I start something at one time and it takes a few hours to complete) and we’ll see how Walker’s sleeping fares. He does take after his Daddy and doesn’t sleep terribly deeply. A loud sneeze will wake that guy so I expect a number of explosions will certainly have an impact.

And if you’re curious, on Walker’s iPod:

• Snack Time CD by the Barenaked Ladies (visit the site to get a free download of the most brilliant song, 7 8 9 — say it out loud and understand why we don’t have the number nine anymore)
• Philadelphia Chickens
• Louis the Lion (from Baby Loves Jazz)
• Vivaldi’s the Four Seasons
• Yo Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin’s Hush
• Some Irish jigs
• Polka Hits by Frank Yankovic