Most of the time we spend the mornings together, just by ourselves. A lot of other daddies do not get the chance to do this, and I thought I’d write down how I feel.

You are 1; I am 29. You are 2’ 3”; I am Daddy-sized. You have wavy, very fair hair; I have chaotic, used-to-be-blonde hair which I sincerely hope you don’t inherit. You have shiny bright blue eyes, which peep out at me in the mornings; I have glasses which you attempt to destroy. You have 7 tiny, razor-sharp teeth which you sink into my finger when I least expect it; I have crooked fangs which you like to inspect from time to time.

You like cats and hens and other animals; I like it when animals don’t escape or vomit on the floor or bring a disembodied head in. You like Aelfric the owl, and Squirrel Nutkin and the sheep who vibrates; I like playing with your anthropomorphic friends, especially when they have furry tails or crunkly wings. You like being held upside-down and swung around madly; I like the baby-giggles this inevitably produces. You like sitting in the garden, plucking blades of exciting grasses and examining them in minute detail; I like it when you pick a daisy then turn and hand it to me. You like builders’ merchants, and tool hire places and scrap metal yards; I like it when we do these things together, and both marvel at a giant crane or a noisy machine or fiddly brass pneumatic parts. You like going to Music With Mummy; I like being the only Daddy there.

You are my baby-in-a-sling, my walking companion, my friend indoors and out. We trudge in all weathers up hills and through woods, looking and laughing at low branches which brush the tops of our heads as we pass. We stride together over windy moorland, you snuggled down with your little hat over your ears, safe and warm next to me as we troll along. You looking up at me in the sling as we hurdle a gate or trudge up some muddy path makes me realise how nice it is that you are right there with me, not in a pushchair going over concrete. Sometimes we sit side-by-side on a grassy hill and I look at the view while you inspect the grass. Sometimes it rains and we hide under the umbrella together.

We have done this since the start of June, and I love it. Well done my darling, my tiniest littlest.