1. When Nick comes down with my birthday present, Alec is still asleep. We sit at the foot of the bed and I open my birthday presents, then put them back in the gift bag to look at later. When Alec wakes up, he takes them out. Perhaps he thinks it's about time he had a birthday.
2. Two courses are quite long enough for Alec to sit still on his own. He has been very good and eaten some breadsticks, some tomato, lots of lasagne and part of a yellow crayon (it did look rather like a breadstick). I bring him across the table and have him on my lap. The waitress brings his strawberry ice cream and we share it, spoon by spoon.
3. Chris patiently, and without a trace of anxiety about sticky fingers and grabby hands, shows Alec how to work the buttons on his camera.
