1. "Mummy, stop computering! Hold Alec hand."
2. "Helmet, helmet!" Alec has been trotting round the kitchen astride his sword and now wants some knightly headgear. I hand him a hat with earflaps that he has been refusing to wear all winter. "Helmet!" he says with a lot of joy in his voice. Then, once I've helped him on with his shield, he's ready for adventure. He looks so happy and so comical peering out from the fur lining that the cleaning lady and I laugh a little behind our hands.
3. He drops his rubbish in the bin and then rides his slender bike on to the empty basketball courts to circle a few times for the sheer pleasure of it.
