Play

Like any little boy, Ethan loves to play. This Christmas, we've had a really nice, long and relaxing break together as a family and we've been able to enjoy watching Ethan playing. He's always on the move these days and received so many nice new toys and books for Christmas so every day, he's had something different to play with and it's been lovely to see him get so involved.

When he was a few months younger, we struggled to find toys that would suit his age as they either seemed too babyish or too advanced but then we found Happyland and Ethan was very happy indeed.

We started with the play mat, a few animal figures and a construction worker set complete with vehicles, then we added a castle, with a king and queen, a knight and Robin Hood too. And for Christmas, our lucky boy received a pirate ship, a submarine and a new set of safari and farm animals too.

He also received a train set from us as his main gift, combining his love of Happyland and Thomas the Tank Engine perfectly. More often than not, it's the sailor that's driving the train, with a zebra for a passenger, and the train line is quite prone to a stomping toddler coming along and derailing the train, but it doesn't matter - Ethan thinks it's just great.

He really loves these figures so much and even though he's still young, he plays role play games with them and is even learning the names of animals and the sounds they make because of how much he plays with them.

We find them everywhere too. Under the sofa, in our shoes, hidden in boxes. We've created a corner in the lounge now for Ethan to play, with a small Ikea Expedit bookcase doubling as a coffee table for us and a place for Ethan to keep his Happyland toys on display and within reach, plus he has a new artists' table and chair which fits into the nook just so.

I really have enjoyed being able to spend so much time with Ethan this holiday. It's been the longest we've had together since I was on maternity leave a year ago.

My little guy and his little people. I could watch them all day long.