Quatro is four months old. We have moved from the time when we count his age in weeks to the time when we count in months.
He is no longer a newborn.
These days he is awake more and interacts with joy and intensity. Despite being the fourth child, we never tire of making him laugh, and it is still amazing to watch him grow and develop.
He loves to kick around on the floor (preferably with no pants on) and he’s desperately trying to roll over. He has finally uncurled his fists and discovered that hands are useful things. He’s swatting and grabbing and dragging things to his mouth.
He is beginning to play.
We don’t own any fancy, expensive baby toys and contraptions. I’ve seen some amazing baby play mat set ups with hanging toys and flashing lights, but that is not for us. We go for the ‘keep it simple’ principle.
So we climbed up into the top of the shed to find the baby gym my Dad made when Muski was a baby. Then the girls dragged the battered suitcase of much loved baby toys from under their bed to choose a few special items to hang from the baby gym.
This hand made baby gym is incredibly simple by design. It is simply a pair of a-frames with a cross bar. It’s sturdy enough for the big kids to hang off and me to use as a help up when my creaky old knees just won’t heave me up on their own.
We use plastic linky rings that were a gift to attach various toys hanging from the top and along the side supports. The linky rings hold the toys securely but easily come off if pulled hard so we know no one is going to get tangled up and hurt. The big kids love to hang all kinds of toys in all kinds of crazy ways and Quatro loves to kick and rill around underneath, grabbing and swiping at all the toys.
We’ve also been making some home made baby toys for Q to play with and explore… more on that next week….
Joining in We Play this week at childhood101.com – head on over for loads of fabulous play ideas!
Chapter Forty says
Quatro is a really beautiful boy.
We were given those linky rings as a gift when B was born 6 years ago. They are a fantastic simple toy that is still well used in our house.
amandab says
He is looking gorgeous :)
Becky says
Gorgeous boy :) I love baby play, it’s so amazing to watch
PlanningQueen says
Such a sweet heart and what a super frame your dad made. It took me ages to find a baby rocker for my sister’s new baby that wasn’t so bright that I needed sunglasses or had 100 things hanging off it. I like the keep it simple principle!
sarah says
Lovely frame – how nice for your gorgeous bub to have that to play with rather than a hideous plastic thing with brand name characters plastered all over it! And i could do with something to help me off the floor sometimes too!
Leah says
He’s just gorgeous Kate!
Jackie says
Cute frame. Gorgeous baby!
Christie says
Oh my, he is growing so fast. I love the perfect simplicity of your wooden frame and look forward to seeing what else you have been making?!?!