As you may have learned from personal experience or one of my previous Dad Blog posts, babies like when you do weird things. (Wumps anyone?) When it comes to settling a baby down, inconsistent and/or random motions can be your best friends, as can odd sound effects. Those two can work especially well in tandem, which I learned through the first calming system that worked for our baby: Ayeuh-Ayeuh and the 4 Bs.
Ayeuh-Ayeuh is my approximation of the sound a baby makes when it sucks angrily on a binky. I’ve found that when I know the baby is tired and wants to fall asleep, mimicking that sound can help the process. With some help from Mama, we also discovered that there are four B words that can help wind things down: Binky, Blanky, Bouncing and Bum Pats. When Ayeuh-Ayeuh and the 4 Bs perform together, it usually ends in a mellow evening. Or at least it used to.
Ayeuh-Ayeuh let the team’s success get to his head. His agent wanted a quick cash grab. What better way to make some bank than to stop sharing it with other people? The lead vocal spun off into his own solo gig. The 4 Bs just don’t seem to work anymore.
However, Ayeuh-Ayeuh’s solo career was about as impressive as JC Chasez.
The only difference is that Ayeuh-Ayeuh might be able to latch on with another band. We’ve been trying some other strategies that seem to work along with Ayeuh-Ayeuh, like Wumping, lowering the lights and softly singing with Ayeuh-Ayeuh replacing the lyrics.
Here’s today’s tip, veiled in the history of American Pop Music. Like so many other aspects of a baby’s life, things change very quickly. The age of the boy band is over. It’s time for countless one-hit wonders and remixes. Here’s hoping we can find those hits early and ride them for every last YouTube view. (I’m looking at you, Gangnam Style.)
Nick Gagalis 
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