Rolling Over, Mobiles, and the Floor Bed

 

I found these pictures on my camera when I uploaded her 5 month pictures. We recently re-introduced the black and white Munari mobile after having the green Gobbi out for a while.  I wasn't sure she'd be interested in it again, but she has spent a good deal of time observing it this week, mostly from her tummy.

Mavry loves being on her tummy now.  I think we were getting ready for church when I put her on the bed for a little while.  She rolled right over to the edge of the co-sleeper and started batting at her polyhedron mobile.  She seemed to be aware of the edge and kept her balance on it. 

She will often fall asleep on her tummy too - this time with a rag I had used to wipe up some drool or spit up underneath her sweet face.  

Mavry is sometimes seen balancing on the edge of the bed or occasionally found after having rolled off the bed.  She doesn't have the dolls in the corner anymore because I wanted to preserve them.  My Mom made me the Raggedy Ann dolls and Mavry is currently mostly interested in chewing on them.  Also, one day I found her chewing on the edge of the picture frame, so her bed is now clear of extras.  She now has a Montessori floor bed that is more in line with the clean and organized look it is meant to have. 

More Montessori Mobiles

Kylie at How We Montessori has put together some posts featuring different Montessori mobiles from her readers.  If you look at her post today, you'll see Mavry and some of the things Colin and I have made for her.

I have learned much from this blog - I consider myself lucky to have this and a few other Montessori inspired blogs to look at for inspiration.  It's been really wonderful to see different spaces and mobiles that she's featured in this series. 

Updating

Mavry this morning, playing with her wooden bell mobile.

I've been updating my blog a bit with labels on posts and adding to my profile.  I also added a list of recent twitter updates on the sidebar.  Almost all of my twitter updates are Instagram pictures.  Most of those Instagram pictures are of Mavry and are also posted on Facebook.  For people who are not on Facebook (like you, Mom!), you can now see these updates through the link on the sidebar.  (You no longer have to rely on Dad to show you!) 

(I didn't want to post without a picture, so here's the latest from Mavry - she's rolling over almost every time I put her on her back, and now she sometimes plays with her mobiles from this position.)

Montessori Inspired Mobiles

We read How to Raise an Amazing Child and Montessori From the Start to get an idea of how to use Montessori principles with a baby.  We are not following Montessori to the letter (the Montessori method would not include swaddling, for instance, because it restricts movement), but we are interested in creating a learning environment at home for Mavry's absorbent mind. 

One of the things suggested from the beginning is to use different sorts of mobiles for the baby to look at.  I found this post at How We Montessori and this post at Little Red Farm helpful in deciding which mobiles to make. There are some guidelines in hanging and using mobiles here. 

I made all of our mobiles because they are pretty expensive to buy.  It has been totally worth the time I put into them to see Mavry enjoy them more and more!
In the beginning, we used just black and white ones.  This one is from a mobile picture hanger I already had with some black and white sea creature art cards.  It's hung above her floor bed where she usually takes naps. 

When Laura was here, she helped me finish up the Munari mobile.  It took Colin (an engineer) to figure out how to balance it, so this was a team effort. 

The whale was an easy one to make with pictures found online.  (I just made three sizes of the same whale, printed and glued them to cardstock then laminated them so they have the same image front and back.)  It's not as beautiful as the one sold through Michael Olaf, but Mavry likes it. 

The octahedron mobile is hung above her co-sleeper that is attached to our bed.  She sleeps here at night, so she doesn't get as much awake time with this one, but she sometimes has alert time before or after sleeping when she watches these.  If she's not swaddled, then she'll reach for them.  

We hung the dancers above her changing station in the bathroom.  She just started grasping for this one recently.  It's a fun place because she can see the actual mobile and the reflection in the mirror.

I hung the other mobiles from dowels or some bamboo sticks we had leftover from our wedding, but when I ran out of those, I hung this one from a wire hanger that I cut into three parts. 







The Gobbi Mobile didn't look all that hard to do, but it turned out being the one I started first (well before she was born) and put off til last (just finished it a week or so ago).  I switched it out with the whale/Munari mobile that we had rotated in the living room.  (I think the principle is to rotate in a new mobile every few weeks, but we like having different ones in different places - after making them all, just two weeks of use seems too short!)

I made mine with styrofoam balls and embroidery floss.  I started out by threading the floss through the center of each ball, but it took forever and got more difficult, so I ended up just glueing it on.  It made for a less beautiful effect, but at least I finished it!  Mavry reaches up for the balls now and enjoys watching them.  

Another version of the Gobbi that looks prettier than mine and was likely faster/easier to make.