Today we went to see the local Christmas lights switched on.  I am a huge fan of Christmas (and all holidays really) and can't wait for all of the festivities to start, so this was a great introduction for Ethan for all the excitement to come in December. When we walked around the Christmas market I spotted some...

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Today we made yet another sensory bottle!  This one is a bit different because we're using something outside of the bottle as well, and that is what makes it truly special!   What you'll need: empty water bottle pipe cleaners magnet glue This was so easy to set up, I just cut up some pipe cleaners into small pieces...

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Unfortunately I'm really not feeling well, so the creative play ideas are just not flowing.  But luckily for me, Babycentre had a great one today called Under Cover which involves hiding under a blanket.  Perfect! Ethan loved finding me under the blanket, and got good at taking it on and off himself as well. We also ended up just...

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Today we started working on some Christmas gifts for a few very special family members.  It's all very top secret and hush hush, but we may have got an idea involving footprints from Pinterest.   So no photos today, just in case some of the recipients of our lovely gifts may be looking ;) Ethan really enjoyed having...

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Today we played with water bottles in a wine box!  It was another one of those strange activities with found objects that Ethan absolutely loves.  We've always got lots of water bottles around and we happened to have a wine bottle box from our last grocery order, so I filled it with different water bottles and let Ethan...

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This morning we used an idea for a game from the Babycentre website called Shake Your Shaker.  I really liked this idea because it involved making the shakers together, where I would usually make toys for Ethan while he naps, this was fun because we made them together. Ethan definitely enjoyed snacking on the cereal (even though he'd...

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Today Ethan played with his Jungle Animals with his Daddy. (We have similar animals that we bought in South Africa, but these ones look really cute too!) They were so sweet playing together, making animal sounds and having the animals chase after each other.  This is great for Ethan's Creative Development with imaginative play.  It's also a part...

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Today Ethan had a playdate, so we played with EVERYTHING!  He loved showing off all of his toys.  But afterwards him and I played with his wooden blocks. It's fun because he's starting to properly play with the blocks now and not just chew on them.  He does still quite like to knock down whatever I build, but...

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This is the kind of day that we love, discovering a completely unexpected way to play and learn at the same time.  I was loading up the dishwasher this morning, and as he often does, Ethan was trying to climb in and "help" by grabbing at the dishes.  Just then he took a spoon out of the cutlery...

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Ethan loves books, he especially loves little tiny books.  So we were very excited to open his present from Santa yesterday and find a little pocket library (not that one exactly, I can't find the one he got online, but that sort of set). We looked through all of the books together, and often whilst I was reading...

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We really are getting into the Christmas spirit a bit earlier than usual this year.  I just can't help it, having a little one just makes it all so much more exciting!  We went to Westfield London today (a mall) and I was originally disappointed to find out that Santa's Grotto wouldn't be open until Thursday, but then...

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Today we went to our regular Monday afternoon playgroup and as always Ethan had a great time exploring all of the different toys.  He's quite sweet, he'll go off and play on his own and then after a while he'll look up and notice me and come happily shouting and crawling back, often with something to show me....

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It is the beginning of my favourite time of year!  Today we started doing our first Christmas activities!  We spent some time trying to get lovely photos for Christmas cards (which of course I can't show you, because they're top secret for now ;)  And we went to the Southbank Christmas Market today!  We went last year as...

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It was a strange day, Ethan pulled the box of ear buds out of his drawer and in my trying to put them away the box popped open and they fell everywhere.  He was so excited, he started playing with them straight away, so I decided to let him, and see what fun we could have with ear...

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Today is Children in Need Day (for those not in the UK, Children in Need is a charity that many people fund raise for once a year, ending in a television special, which airs tonight).  The character that represents Children in Need is Pudsey Bear.  We got a Pudsey Bear and some Pudsey Bear ears for Ethan to play with...

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Ethan is 13 months old and today we played with clothespins and a bottle!  He loves to post things, he will move things from one box to another for hours on end, so when I came across this idea on Pinterest, I knew that he would love it!  Pinterest led me to this website I Can Teach My...

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Today we went to a soft play centre that also has a multi sensory room, with wonderful lights!  Ethan is 13 months old now, and still loves to look at lights (he has since he was very small).  There were lights being projected down onto the floor, light boxes on the walls and a fantastic light bubble tube....

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Today we played with pom poms and an empty water bottle.  Sometimes it's so simple, but Ethan often seems to really enjoy the simple things.  He loves playing with regular things around the house, so you can expect to see a lot of water bottles and boxes lying around! We put the pom poms in one by one,...

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Today we went to a new playgroup!  It's a lovely one that lasts all afternoon and is just a room full of toys for Ethan to play with and explore.  It doesn't get too busy and there are a few children around the same age for Ethan to play with.  It's interesting, because we don't purposely try to...

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Today we played at home, we had a look on the Babycentre website (which we love) and found an age appropriate activity for Ethan to enjoy.   They call it Fun Land at Home and it involves cushions and other things that you'd find around the house stacked up and placed around the room for your toddler to climb...

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Today we had a lot of fun playing with Ethan's VTech Emergency Vehicles.  He got them for his birthday and he absolutely loves them!  They can get pretty noisy, so maybe not the best toy to bring out when you have a headache, but they are lots of fun. Ethan absolutely loves pressing buttons, and it didn't take...

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Today Ethan played with his LeapFrog Music Table, another lovely birthday present that he absolutely adores. It's a toy that he will happily play with on his own, but it's really nice to take the opportunity to play together and explore all of the different things that this toy can do.  Ethan absolutely loves music, so as soon...

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Today unfortunately I wasn't feeling very well, so we didn't go to our usual Gymboree class.  Instead we stayed at home and did lots of active play.  One of Ethan's favourite things is to play in his tunnel! This is a great activity for Ethan's Physical Development as he crawls through the tunnel.  It is also great for...

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Today we opened up another one of Ethan's birthday presents (he got so much, we've been saving them and just opening new ones once in a while).  The one we chose today was the Twist and Stack Puzzle.   Ethan loves it!  I enjoy toys like these that work on different levels.  At the moment he was just...

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I had a look at this week's activity on BabyCentre and found something that we love to do already!  Let's Play - Books on Board.  So we happily chose some of Ethan's board books from the book shelf, got nice and cosy and read a few together. A few of our current favourites: Dear Zoo Peekaboo Pets! The Monster at...

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The night has arrived, it's Bonfire Night!  Again we're just staying in, but we're bringing together a few different things we've been playing with to make a Bonfire Night Sensory Box! Again this helped develop Ethan's Knowledge and Understanding of the World as he explored a variety of different materials in the dark.  He had his own little flash...

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Tonight we had our second night of Bonfire Night celebrations!  This time we decided to introduce Ethan to sparklers.  I was a bit worried about the safety aspects, but we were very careful, so it was absolutely fine.  I would definitely recommend waiting until there are 2 adults to try this at home. Ethan was absolutely mesmerised by...

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We decided to start our Bonfire Night celebrations a few nights early!  Ethan is still a bit young to take out to a big fireworks display, so we had our own little party at home.  I found lots of ideas on Pinterest for themed foods and we turned off all the lights after dinner and played with glow...

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Today we played with Ethan's Crane with Blocks (his is similar to this one).  He loves playing with the blocks on their own and with the crane on his own, but needs a little bit of help to use them together. So we sat and I helped him to lower the crane close enough to the blocks and we...

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Today we did some lovely drawing and colouring with crayons! I am very excited that Ethan is not trying to eat the crayons any more (or at least he's doing it less ;)  So we were able to sit and do some colouring together.  This is fantastic for his Creative Development as for the first time he is...

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