The boy with the silver spoon

Having had three boys of her own, the little man’s nain (Welsh grandmother) is rather good at present buying. In short, whatever she gets goes down a storm. The favourite so far is a trolley with wooden blocks that he pushes around endlessly shouting “go, go, go” as he whizzes past. The blocks are just becoming interesting too although knocking them down is far more fun than building them up.

Another great find has been a beautifully made wooden walker that “she couldn’t resist”. Forget garish plastic novelties, this toy is charmingly old-fashioned – the kind you imagine Benny Hill lovingly carving and hiding away under the shop floor of his toy shop in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Remember that? The child catcher scared me SO much – still does if I’m honest).

 The toy is simplicity itself, comprising a long stick with a small ball on one end (for obvious safety reasons) and a delightful painted cow on the other. This ‘moo-moo’ has wheels instead of legs with little wooden balls attached to them by string that make a satisfying clunking noise when set in motion. He will sit for hours (well, a good fifteen minutes) rolling it back and forth. For us mums, this toy is a blessing – what else can you wheel about with one hand while flicking through the latest edition of House Beautiful with the other?

The latest acquisition, however, is pure genius. As he is beginning to want to feed himself, his nain has bought him his very own loop spoon – a piece of baby cutlery she swears by. Instead of them having to tackle a long handle, this natty device loops back onto itself which is perfect for a little hand to grip. It seems you can’t get these in plastic, so while his parents eat their dinner with Ikea’s finest knives and forks, the little man is dining in style with cutlery that came in its on presentation box – talk about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.