Names and games

Choosing a name for your baby is quite a responsibility. One which is often taken too lightly by the lower echelons of society who give their offspring strangely spelled or quite ridiculous monickers. In our antenatal classes there were six couples, including ourselves, who discussed absolutely everything about babies – except names.

The underlying fear that someone may have opted for the same name made the whole subject completely off limits. As it turned out everyone had chosen different names (all proper), some having been chosen well before the big arrival. Our choice, for instance, was made five months before George arrived, and even though there was no chance of us changing it if anyone else had decided on George, we're glad that he's the only one...

That is until the man who works in the field at the end of our garden acquired a Jack Russell puppy – very cute and friendly and sporting a bandana round his neck and, of course, called George.

Before George was born we used to play him music. Mummy would press the headphones against her tummy and relax. It wasn't that we believed it would make a vast difference or that we were 'new-age' parents, more that we love music and, well, it wouldn't do any harm – after all it wasn't Radio 2.

The other day – 12 weeks on – we decided to play him the music we played him in the womb and the reaction was certainly noticeable. Big smiles, kicking legs, cooing and waving arms instantly replaced his quiet relaxation.

And there are other unusual things that get George excited. The inside of cupboards for one, but mainly light fittings. There could be a reason for this – as George spends most of his day looking up, he gets to see a lot of ceilings and skies with not an awful lot going on for most of the time.

We tried to make his sky-gazing a little more interesting with the introduction of sunglasses, but it's still the light fittings that amuse him. His favourite toy is the mobile above his cot – a bit like a light fitting but with movement and music... and it's much better than some of the views he sees while lying on his back.