Much like with the quad’s wardrobe, we are fortunate enough to also receive many hand me down toys.  I stash toys away for a few weeks at a time, and rotate them to keep things fresh.  When I notice fussiness and cranky babies, I know it’s time for a rotation.  Around our house, novelty is king!  It always warms my heart to see the quads discover something new to explore.

Of their toys, I’m most fond of those that encourage imaginative play.  It’s wonderful seeing the quads figure out how to really use toys and mimic adult behaviors.  For instance, they are all about their kitchen set right now.  They don’t really understand how to cook with it, but they often feed me or their stuffed animals and dolls plastic spaghetti and vegetables.  Mason and Harper are often seen stirring imaginary concoctions in tiny tea cups, or sipping their beverages.

Seriously, Mason’s favorite toys are spoons. He often clutches one in each hand, and on occasion I find them in his crib.

Another favored toy is the telephone.  Naturally, the babies see us chatting on our cell phones, and they emulate this behavior artfully.   On a few occasions, George made the grave error of letting them play with his actual phone.  It’s impressive how they instinctively swipe and tap, but really smart phones are not good in little hands.  The baby sign for phone is to hold your hand to your ear, which they do when they spy a phone.

They have quite an array of toy phones.  So many in fact that I was tickled at comparing the evolution of them.  Our toy phone collection boasts a rotary dial phone all the way to a smart phone.  And you know what- they recognize each of these toys as phones and use them appropriately.  However, they seem to prefer the smart phone.  I believe they recognize it as being most similar to the ones we use, and they often bicker over who gets it.

Here’s our entire collection of telephones. 

It is rather incredible just how much technology has evolved within my life span.  When we Face Time with my sister, it reminds me of watching episodes of The Jetsons as a child.  I often wonder what the future of technology will bring for the quads.  By the time they are adults will these toy phones even be recognizable as phones?

For the most part, the quads mastered the “walk and talk” as well as the “speaker phone”.

hugs,

Amber