The birds and the zombies

'Children grow up so fast' '“ we all say it so it must be true. All the more reason then for me to savour the (increasingly fleeting) moments when Tibbons comes out with something that, as he rapidly approaches the grand old age of three, shows he still has at least one foot in toddlerdom.

Take this week, for example: Tibbons and I were at the park with his grandma, enjoying what seems to have been the last of the summer sunshine, foraging blackberries and enjoying a good old game of 'ice creams' on the little climbing frame when a slightly older girl came along and sat to one side, quietly observing what we were up to.

Tibbons was a little unsettled by her presence and in classic toddler style made no bones about expressing his dissatisfaction rather audibly.

Thankfully the girl seemed untroubled and continued to enjoy her front row seat at the ice cream parlour '“ I'm not sure what she thought of Tibbons' rather excessive charge of £7 for a cone, or what she thought of me for emptying my imaginary purse of all its imaginary change to cover this hefty sum, but she seemed somewhat entertained.

After a little while, Tibbons climbed down from his ice cream tower and attempted to intimidate the girl into moving with the power of one of his stern looks. At this point, his adversary (good for her) informed Tibbons that scary things were not scary for her.

Somewhat nonplussed, Tibbons responded that he didn't like scary things, and she in turn informed him that she liked zombies.

Tibbons, unaware of zombies as the epitome of scary things, but fully versed in flying creatures, countered that he liked bumble bees, or in his words, 'bungle bees'. How cute, I thought, my lovely little toddler thinks that zombies are a type of bee.

It's lovely watching Tibbons grow up, but I hope that these moments of wide-eyed innocence don't disappear too quickly.