Attached to the rails of the boy's crib is a little music box thingy that we affectionately call his "stereo." It's got options for him to listen to lullabies, classical music, or peaceful ocean sounds.

Let me go on a quick tangent here. Can I just say how much I hated it when I was young and people would say that you can hear the ocean in a seashell? I would always put it up to my ear and not hear any oceans. Then I'd say, "you mean, can I hear that air?" And they'd say, "well, yes, but it sounds like the ocean!" I've been to a couple of oceans, and they didn't sound like air in a seashell. For some reason, that's never been something I could just shrug off or play along with. "No, I DON'T hear the ocean. I hear air in a shell." Or if I'm feeling clever, I'll reply with a "wha- whoa! I can hear the ocean in my HAND too!" So note to readers: don't ever give me a shell and tell me I can hear the ocean. I'm not threatening anyone, but I don't want to be held responsible for whatever happens next.

Anyway, back on task. The boy will regularly play his music when he's in his crib but doesn't want to sleep. Recently, he's discovered that he can also adjust the volume of the music. He knows that we don't really like it when he turns it all the way up. This is partially because the MIDI loops can get rather annoying, but mainly because the volume almost reaches Giggle Doodler levels.

This morning was one of the mornings when he didn't want to be in his bed, so he cranked the volume as high as it could go. As the wife was walking out of our room to go to his, we both had to laugh about how we never thought we'd have to tell our one-year-old to turn down his stereo. They do learn quickly, don't they?