Jumping George

There's not much that gets George rattled, but on a recent day out we sat down out at a picnic bench right next to a peacock.

Once the novelty of the peacock had worn off, George began to take more notice of mummy's ice cream. Getting a little impatient, he must have been wondering if he was never going to get a lick and promptly started his screechy screams (a new habit that manifests itself most strongly when he's strapped in his highchair and wants something). Anyway, the peacock immediately replied with double the volume causing George to nearly jump out of his skin. He was about to start crying but looked at his mummy and daddy to check their response. As soon as he saw us laughing a big smile spread across his face and he started to laugh too – and make more peacock noises.

That's not the only thing that has noticeably startled him. The other day he had his first encounter with a vacuum cleaner. He'd been happily crawling round and ignoring it while playing – until mummy fired it up.

It probably made him jump more than anything, but he burst into tears and crawled behind the nearest chair as fast as his little limbs could carry him – a bit like one of those lizards that runs across the hot desert sand without putting its feet down for longer than a nanosecond.

On deeper reflection, it could be a gene he inherited from his dad. This will be proven to be the case if dusters bring on a nervous disposition or the ironing board causes him to break out in a cold sweat – in which case he'll be joining daddy behind the nearest chair.