Men at play

Poor Baby B was suffering with yet another nursery-spread infection today. If he hasn't achieved immunity to every single rhinovirus on the planet by the time he's five, it won't be for lack of trying. But despite the fact that he was producing snot the consistency of Bostik, and was unusually tired and clearly a bit under the weather, he still managed to charm us. R especially had a great time, having won the coveted title of Favoured Grandparent of the Day, and thus being on the receiving end of most of the cheeky grins and snotty hugs and kisses that were being handed out. I managed to live with the disappointment of not being used as a handkerchief every ten minutes, but I did feel I'd passed some kind of test that I hadn't knowingly put myself in for, when eventually something I said or did provoked a laugh from the Petit Prince.

If his grandmother was a little disappointing today, the ducks were worse: despite both R and B working the pond energetically, they were clearly too well-fed to be interested in performative eating. Luckily there was a little flock of feral pigeons on the terrace, and they were much more satisfactory - running hither and yon to collect B's offerings, and provoking him to giggles. Better yet, a squirrel turned up, and came quite close to us while searching out the pigeons' left-overs. I'm sure it's not the first time he's seen one, because they come through his garden from time to time, but I think it must have been the first time he'd been within a couple of metres of one, and the Boy looked genuinely surprised and impressed.

New words since last week: "bear", "bowl" and "boo".

Also - R and I are almost certain - "hello". Leastwise, when R came back into the house after a trip to the car, he said something that sounded very like "heyo". Coincidence? I think not.

New skill of the day (after much perseverance, frustration, and complaint, but also steadfast rejection of adult assistance): fastening the clip on the front of his reins. Luckily he can't undo it yet, though he understands how that process works.

He's very advanced.