Jude Robert

Where do you begin when you start the naming processes of your new addition? Talk about a hard decision. It’s probably the HARDEST part of becoming a parent. This label is going to stick with your child FOREVER.

So what does a name really mean? What’s in a name?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

(Sorry, had to add a little literature into this discussion.)

When we found out that we were having a boy, the name game was on. We had a girl name picked, but of course, a little boy was coming so we had some decisions to make. Jeremy, my hubby, is a HUGE Beatles fan and he loves the song “Hey Jude!” This is when the name Jude started coming up in our conversations.

I wasn’t sold on this name at first, but after reading the lyrics, and knowing the history of the song, I felt like it was a great story to have behind our son’s name. So it was official. Jude was his name and now that we know his personality and what he likes, I can totally see the music behind those bright blue eyes. His name fits him, and our family, perfectly.

I knew that Jeremy couldn’t wait to introduce Jude to the Beatles, and we already have through Rockabye Baby since he was born. It is great to have a special song just for Jude. It is the lullaby that we sing to him when we cuddle, too. Precious memories through music…

Now that we are expecting again this October, the name game is on yet again! We find out if the new baby is a boy or girl next month. Once we know blue or pink, I think we will begin to discuss the possibility of tying music into the name of baby #2.  I find it so fun to have music be a part of our children’s lives and even their names. Oh, the decisions!

We would love some musical name suggestions that go well with Jude! List away!

Censie Sawyer, Building Our Story

Thornton, CO

Follow their family on their journey!

Get our Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles now!

Available at Rockabye Baby’s Online Shop, iTunes and Amazon

This is a call to every weary parent! Is your sweet little angel keeping you up every night? In times like these, you need a magical monkey wrench like Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Foo Fighters.

Get your copy of Lullaby Renditions of Foo Fighters NOW!

Listen to our lullaby rendition of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” now!

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Tracklist:

1. Everlong
2. Monkey Wrench
3. Learn to Fly
4. My Hero
5. Arlandria
6. This is A Call
7. All My Life
8. The Pretender
9. Times Like These
10. Best of You
11. Next Year
12. Big Me

What’s your favorite Foo Fighters song? Did it make the tracklist on Lullaby Renditions of Foo Fighters make the album? 

When you think anthems, which rock band comes to mind? I am talking about the put your fist in the air and rock out hard type of band, the type of band that gets your blood pumping and body moving. I really hope you said AC/DC because that was the correct answer.

I have never known a band to bring together all types of people in all different types of situations like AC/DC does. The older crowd can relate to them since the band was formed in 1973, and the college kids think “Thunderstruck” is the world’s best drinking game. AC/DC acts as a universal language for all rock lovers — our babies included! The lullabies on Lullaby Renditions of AC/DC  are sure to bring forth some interesting memories as it has all of your favorites on it.

“For those about to nap, we salute you.”

I would have to say that is the best line ever. My son, Michael, is 9 months old now, and boy, does he want to just rock out all day long! I salute anything that makes naptime easier on Mom’s ears and anything that gets an energetic boy to fall asleep!

What’s your lullaby anthem? Every snooze counts.

Mallery Schuplin, Horrible Housewife

Grand Blanc, MI

Get our Lullaby Renditions of AC/DC now!

Available at Rockabye Baby’s Online Store, iTunes, and Amazon

See if you can spot our Rockabye Baby display in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Describe the scene in a comment below and qualify to win 3 Rockabye Baby CDs of your choice!

My husband and I have never been big on how-to books, following directions or manuals very well — that’s probably why our furniture keeps falling apart. However, slowly but surely, friends and family have started building a how-to library for us: from baby emergency manuals to the how-tos of breastfeeding to raising the happiest kid on the block and father survival guides.

With our baby arriving this week, we appreciate all the advice we can get, of course, especially the no BS variety that doesn’t require an M.D. or Ph.D. Actually, something straight to the point from any M.O.M. or D.A.D will do just fine.

Here are a couple of questions that come to mind which we would like answered:

• What’s the fastest way to clean up baby’s (fill in the blank)?
• How do you nicely say to strangers, “Mind your own business,” when they say something about your kid?

Actually, we’d love to know:

 If you were to write a parenting book, what would you call it?

I just asked my sister and she said, “Unprepared.”

We have yet to earn the M.O.M. and D.A.D degrees yet, so our imaginary book is still to be written. But here’s how we plan to NOT screw up your life, “Sweet Child O’____.” Our thanks to a little Rockabye lullaby inspiration:

I promise to hold you “Close To Me.”
When you’re “Cryin’,” “I’ll Be There for You.”
You will be encouraged to “Express Yourself.”
I will always give you the “Best of My Love.”
And “Every Breath You Take” we will treasure. 

Yeah, this kid already has us wrapped around his/her fingers. Just call us, “suckers.”

Teena

You all know the type: Rowdy, likes to make a scene, parties all night. Translate that into baby behavior…this little one has kicked, punched and stretched my tummy every which way. It’s quite the freaky scene if you witness it. Limbs protruding and moving all about, while I try to keep a calm, composed face. He or she has liked to do so in the most public locales: business meetings, in crowded lines and during Mass. (You’d go to church, too, if you knew you were giving birth to a future rebel rouser.) This baby has my blood, after all. And I’m no angel — neither is Daddy.

Oh, yeah, and there’s the running a week behind schedule, despite much activity and egg custard pie in recent days. Thanks, baby. I see how you are. Well, if you don’t make your appearance soon, I’m calling in reinforcements.

So, let’s rock ‘n’ roll, baby. It’s time to show me what you’ve got. Whether you’re a boy or girl, a true rebel or gentle soul, come out and say, “Hello.” Mama is waiting — and she’s over waddling instead of walking.

Listen to our “Born To Be Wild” Playlist NOW! 

When it comes to Nirvana, I was one of the lucky ones.  I got to see the band perform just six months before it would all come to an end.

It was October 22, 1993, and an anxious crowd was packed into the Palmer Auditorium in Davenport, Iowa to catch Nirvana (along with Jawbreaker and Mudhoney) during a stop on their “In Utero” Tour.

This was the “evolved” Nirvana, one that found Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl  joined by guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston amidst a stage littered with flowers and flanked by angel-winged mannequins.

The setlist for that night:

Radio Friendly Unit Shifter • Drain You • Breed • Serve the Servants • About a Girl • Heart-Shaped Box • Sliver • Dumb • In Bloom • Come as You Are • Lithium • Pennyroyal Tea • School • Polly • Rape Me • Territorial Pissings • Smells Like Teen Spirit • Something in the Way • All Apologies • On a Plain • Scentless Apprentice • Blew

While no one could have foreseen what would ultimately bring a premature end to Nirvana’s music, there was a magic in the air that night that is still indescribable. It took 17 years, but I finally found a live recording of that very show floating around online last year.

Around the same time, I introduced my daughter to the music of Nirvana through the Live at Reading concert film. Even as a toddler, I can see that she “got it.”

- James Zahn
The Rock Father

Check out Lullaby Renditions of Nirvana

Available at our Online Store, iTunes and Amazon

Do you have a Nirvana memory you can’t shake? Share it below.

We were so inspired by the original, we decided to make our own version.

Watch our Rockabye Bear’s antics in “FRESH POTS!” below: 

Purchase your Lullaby Renditions of Foo Fighters bundle NOW! 

Click below to download your free download of our lullaby rendition of the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.”

It’s going to happen any day now with my wife due this week and, no doubt, it will be a life-changing experience that will include several challenges, all gladly welcomed. (Well, I’m saying that now.) And as my child’s arrival draws near, I hear the same question repeated over and over again: “Are you ready?”

My response, “No.”

How can I be? This is a completely new experience for me. But one piece of advice from a close friend, and mother of two, has always stuck with me. “All you need is a good car seat.” That got me thinking about an interview with actor Ryan Gosling, who was asked about how he prepared for the car chase scenes in last year’s movie Drive, in which he plays a getaway driver.

He mentioned that there was something special about driving in Los Angeles at night listening to music. And, as an Angeleno, I absolutely agree. L.A. at night is a magical place. The traffic is lighter and sometimes the only pedestrians are the coyotes.

So, on those nights when my little one (“Little D”) cannot sleep, I’m going to get behind the wheel of my car and drive baby around — within the speed limit, of course. If he or she is anything like me, then he or she will be a pint-size monster of rock. Listening to metal as we cruise the city streets will be a bonding experience for us. But before we graduate to the heavy guitar chords and screaming lyrics from the gods of rock, I will start my baby on a custom mix of lullaby renditions from bands that I like to drive to solo.

So, donning my driving jacket and gloves, and Little D safely belted in the car seat, we will embark on our nightly drive through the city streets, and I imagine it’ll play out like this:

Daddy and his fussy newborn begin their evening adventure as “For Those About to Rock We Salute You” (AC/DC) plays. Little D howls in the night, drawing the attention of the local coyote pack. They return the howl. It is their way of saying we salute you.

Little D starts to relax and both begin to learn about having “Patience” (Guns N’ Roses) with one another as they are going through many “Changes” (Black Sabbath) together. They bond with every tune and turn.

Daddy and Little D hit the Sunset Strip listening to “Feel Your Love Tonight” (Van Halen). They roll their windows down to hoot and holler at rockers and tourists as they cruise past the Whiskey a Go Go and the Rainbow Room. Daddy opts not to stop for the two-drink special on this occasion.

And as they drive back to their home in the coyote-packed hills of Los Feliz, Daddy blasts the lullaby rendition of “Welcome Home” (Metallica). But Little D doesn’t hear the song…D is already asleep, and Papa is very proud of his little monster of rock.