Mummy make up your mind, is it a dromedary or a camel?

Dear Poppy,

You have a book called Dear Zoo which you absolutely love. Its a flap book and ever since you were about six months old, you have been opening all the flaps. Well actually not all, because the giraffe flap always stumped you.

So this has been the one book we read you every night at bed-time. You get super excited as we get the book out. You then watch eagerly as we open the book and you know that the first page has no flaps so you just sit back and save your energy. As soon as we turn to the next one, you leap forward and pull out the elephant flap and let out a little gleeful laugh. Of late, you are very kind and offer to close the flap too.

The next page is the giraffe which opens from the bottom which totally confused you for a while, but not anymore.

Then comes the lion. Not only do you open the flap, but you then go on to feel the teeth of the lion. Mummy has to be on high alert with super quick reflexes lest you leave him toothless.

Is it a dromedary or a camel,  is the big argument between mummy and daddy about the next animal. Poor little you being confused at this little age. Daddy insists on calling it a dromedary because it has just one hump. But going at the rate you are, soon it will be a camel without any humps as you cant wait to get your hands on that hump..By the way, this is the only animal which opens with 2 flaps and you know this because you use both your hands. I am very proud of this particular one :)

The next parcel is the snake which no longer has a head. Can I take this opportunity to clarify for posterity that mummy has better reflexes than daddy. Both the decapitated animals in the book, met their sad fate while daddy was reading the book to you. And this, considering he reads the book to you only about 5 % of the time.

The naughty monkey follows and I have a strong feeling he will be your next victim when it is daddy's book-reading turn next.

The jumpy frog has jumped out of the book and is now jumping along in some garbage van. I think you know that there is no point in opening that flap anymore, so you dont even bother.

And then, your favourite one, the puppy. You emit another little shriek perhaps because you know it is the perfect parcel and the last one..You like feeling the puppy's tongue.

Poppy, you are getting stronger, quicker and more violent by the day. Lets see how long the Dear Zoo book continues to house these lovely animals..

Love you my book loving, fearless little baby,

Mummy