The Boys, Grandpa, and the Exersaucer

The day Nathan hit four months, I started wondering when he might be ready for the exersaucer. He seemed ready, but I wanted to check what the makers recommended. Their minimum age? Four months. So here he is on the day he turned four months, enjoying his brother's exersaucer (which, by the way, we didn't get for him until he was six or seven months old).
He needed a little extra support at first to keep him from bouncing back and forth in the seat, but he quickly grew out of that. Now it's one of his favorite toys and one of the best ways to keep him entertained for half an hour at a time.

Patrick has also redeveloped a love for the toy, although he is forced to play with it from the other side. I think it has something to do with seeing his brother playing with it. Fortunately, the good big brother that he is, he's more than willing to share.

In fact, this is one of the most charming ways I see them interact. Patrick talks to Nathan a lot when he's in the exersaucer and pets his head (although I'm always a few seconds too late to catch a picture of that). I'm not sure Patrick doesn't see Nathan as part of the toy, though.

Because he keeps doing things like this. Hey, if it fits on his head, why not Nathan's, right? And it's not like Nathan can get away when he's in the exersaucer.

Nathan didn't seem to mind too much, thank goodness. He's just not entirely sure what's going on. But as long as his brother's paying him attention, he'll put up with just about anything.

The boys had fun when their grandpa was here too. Patrick turned into a monkey and climbed all over his grandpa. He couldn't stay away. I suspect Grandpa loved every second of the adoration, too.

They had lots of fun playing with cell phones. Grandpa let him "talk" on his phone...

...and Patrick let him talk on the phone Grandpa brought for Nathan that Patrick has yet to let him play with.

Nathan continually insisted on early bedtimes when Grandpa was around in the evenings, so the two didn't get quite as much bonding time. That didn't keep Nathan from giving Grandpa his best flirtatious smile and some great giggles when he was awake.