A good imagination

Harry certainly has a vivid imagination. This has become increasingly obvious as he's grown up.

When he's playing by himself, you can hear him chattering away, making up stories about what's happening. When he's playing with his trains, for instance, you will often hear him repeating elements of stories about Thomas the Tank that we have read to him. I find the whole thing fascinating and I'm constantly surprised at how much he remembers.

At other times, his imagination can be a little bit difficult to keep up with. For a while, he was constantly talking about his friend John. Apparently, this friend has silver hair, silver eyes and lives in Wrexham. If you see anyone matching that description, can you let me know as Harry tells me he's building a conservatory for him.

Harry's also fond of taking the clothes airers off the radiators and pushing them around the house, pretending that they're lawn mowers. Not only does this play havoc with the carpet, it can also be extremely painful if Harry catches your ankles.

After one such incident, I asked Harry why he was playing with the clothes airers. “It's my lawn mower daddy,” he replied. “But it's not a lawn mower, it's a clothes airer,” I pointed out a bit sharply rubbing a bruised ankle.

“Don't be silly,” he replied in a manner that suggested he was speaking to, well, a three-year-old. “It's only a pretend lawn mower daddy.”