I am the ever so proud Godmother and Great Auntie (I prefer Awesome Auntie–doesn’t sound quite so Miss. Havishamish) of little Cade Anthony Lamy. He joined the world on October 2, 2010 at 6:03 in the evening in the magical city of New Orleans. Not only is he beautiful but he’s got the biggest hands for an infant I’ve ever seen. His long and agile fingers will one day navigate the accordion buttons as fluidly as if they belonged to Frankie Yankovic himself. Seriously…this kid has skills, and he’s only twelve days old.

And on his fifth birthday his Godmother and Awesome Auntie Karen will be presenting him with his very own kid’s accordion, along with his own copy of “Squeeze,” an educational children’s book by Dale Wise touting the wonderful world of the squeezebox. Trust me, Cade, you’ll be the hippest kid in your kindergarten class.

If you have your own little mini Franki Yankovic out there, you might want to check out this Web site. Dale Wise, Virginia’s own accordion evangelist, has a fabulous program that introduces the accordion to kids ages 7 – 12. You know, at one time every 12-year-old kid from Long Island to Milwaukee played the accordion and he didn’t have to go to the prom with his sister. He was cool! Dale Wise wants to make playing the accordion cool again and so do I. So check out his program.

And check out little Cade to the right, dancing the Flamenco on his first night home. Not only will he be able to play the accordion, he’ll be able to do a little folk dance to accompany the tunes. Kids and accordions rock!