A while back Shelly blogged about her frustration with putting Ellie to bed lately, because Ellie has picked up on the fact that she can keep asking us to sing her more and more songs and thus delay the inevitable moment when we leave her alone for the night. I accept some of the blame that Shelly placed upon me, because it has been a goal of mine to teach my little girl lots of different songs. I want her to be musically talented and well-rounded, so I'm singing her pop songs as well as jazz songs and church songs.

It's gotten to the point that I can see us getting through to her. This girl loves to sing and to be sung to. Here's a non-comprehensive list of some of Ellie's favorite songs, by category, from Beethoven to Billy Joel to Irving Berlin to Janice Kapp Perry.

Songs Ellie Actually Seems to Know Some of the Words to and Sings Along With:

Happy Birthday to You (She sings Happy Birthday to Daddy, to Mama, to Ellie, to Doggy (her stuffed animal), to Cookie Monster, to Pumpkin, and -- when Shelly refuses to sing to someone like Pumpkin who isn't a person -- to "Person.")

I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus (She calls this song "Like Jesus" and I love to stop right before the chorus and let her carry on with the words "Love one another as Jesus loves you." This is one of her very favorites -- nary a day goes by but that it's sung many times. Tonight I realized she even knows some of the words to the second verse.)

Baptism (A week or two ago in sacrament meeting, during the passing of the sacrament, when the entire chapel was silent, suddenly and without warning, Ellie belts out: "Jesus caaaame to Jooooohn the Baaaaptist / in Judeeeeea long agoooooo!" Priceless.)

Straighten Up and Fly Right (Possibly the culprit that started Shelly's trauma, because Ellie loves the song so much, and at first Shelly didn't even know it. It's an old Nat King Cole song (also recorded by Diana Krall on her first album) about a buzzard who takes a monkey for a ride in the air. Ellie calls it the "Monkey Song." I have heard her sing some parts of it, but so far only Shelly has heard Ellie intone the words "Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.")

Songs Ellie Demands to Be Sung in the Car

If You Chance to Meet a Frown (She calls the song "Frowny Face," and she points at he cheeks constantly while we sing it. Very cute.)

The Wheels on the Bus (Other things on the bus that she selects to sing about include: the driver, the wipers, the mommies, the daddies, the Ellie, the doggies, the kitties, and last night while coming home from a Halloween party with a ghost decoration, the "spooky ghosts." I have always hated this song, but when Ellie sings about the Ellie on the bus saying "I love you," it makes it okay.)

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man (She knows all the actions about the wise man who built his house upon a rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Her favorite part is the "washed away" at the end.)

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider (Every spider she sees, in any context, is an "itty-bitty pider!")

Songs Ellie Requests at Bedtime

Goodnight My Angel (One night, Ellie requested the "Daddy Song," and the only thing I could think of was Billy Joel's lullaby. So now it's in our regular rotation (both Shelly and I really need to learn all the words) as "Daddy Song" for no apparent reason.)

Annie's Song (Similarly, Shelly started singing this John Denver favorite when Ellie requested a "Mama Song." She's picking up on some of the words now, but I'm afraid the name Ellie calls it may need to be changed soon...)

I Love to See the Temple (This was our standard every-single-night lullaby for her until she started realizing she could make requests. But it's still on the list -- in fact just tonight she asked for the "Temple Song.")

Blue Skies (Ellie requests "Jazz Song," and Shelly sings Blue Skies. The other day I played her a recording of Dinah Washington singing it, and her little face just lit up.)

Fur Elise (This, obviously, is the "Ellie Song," as it bears her name. We just sing the melody on the syllable "doo" and she really gets a kick out of knowing there's a song about her, even if it doesn't have any words.)