Rock-A-Bye Baby, On The Treetops

When I think of the nursery rhyme (or lullaby) "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all," this is the illustration which comes to mind. It was either a book from my own childhood or one from my children's.

It was on Mother's Day, while I was sitting on the deck, talking on the phone with my daughter, enjoying the flowers I won at Alyssa's baby shower the day before (for knowing the most baby animal names, i.e. fox - kit; swan - cygnet, etc.) and really enjoying the Dom Perignon Alyssa, Zach & Katrina had given me for Christmas so I could cross it off my bucket list, when I first noticed........

an Oriole nest about ten feet above the edge of the deck! Orioles have nested in this tree every year but always before the nest was hidden up higher in the tree. Oriole nests have fascinated me ever since I was a kid and Mom pointed out to me how they were made, suspended from a branch, swinging with the wind- rocking the babies on the treetops.

I told Kari with any luck, I'd get some pictures of the babies. Today, I did. Can you see the head and eye of one of them at the top, center of the picture?

Both parents work all day keeping the babies fed. After 'Dad' feeds them, he sits on the branch and just watches and watches them. I think he's saying: "When are you kids going to get big enough to leave the nest and fend for yourselves?!"

'Mom' seems a little more nurturing. She just puts the food into their hungry little mouths and then flies off to find them more to eat. There are four types of Orioles found in Iowa: Orchard, Hooded, Bullock's and Baltimore. These Baltimore Orioles are said to be so-named because the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore.

The first printed version from Mother Goose's Melody (London c. 1765) had slightly different lyrics: "Hush-a-bye baby, on the tree top....." rather than Rock-a-bye. One theory of the origin of the rhyme suggests it was written by an early English immigrant after she observed Native American mothers placing their babies in birch-bark cradles, suspending them from tree branches and letting the wind rock them.

With that image in mind, look at the above pictured Zen cradle swing from Fisher-Price. It has a mobile, plays six different lullabies and rocks either side-to-side or front to back. How far we've come. I know Alyssa will appreciate having something like this for baby Lily, but I hope she will also have time to hold her and rock her and sing her a lullaby - Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops.....