Jake's about to turn 5 in a few days. I've noticed over the last few weeks that he's getting a cheeky wit about him. He likes to spar and joke with us, but because it's the holidays, he's easily bored and frustrated. Sometimes he gets grumpy when he doesn't get an answer he likes.

He's a huge fan of science fiction stuff. Sitting in front of the TV right now, he's rewound the same scene in Doctor Who loads of times now, just to hear him say "Are you my mummy?" referrencing one of Jake's favourite episodes, The Empty Child. He's obsessed with Iron Man at the moment - not because of the movie, but because of the old cartoon series running on the satellite channels. You know, the one where Tony Stark looks like a big sleazy pimp on steroids? What a hero...

Still, Jake's one of the most pliant children. Ask him to do anything for you and he does it without hesitation. I'm not joking. I asked him this evening to pick up some cushions from the living room floor, and he did it immediately. No grumbling, no wasting time.

I just wanted to record a few thoughts about Jake as he approaches his 5th birthday. A sweet, intelligent boy. Still quite shy around new people, and withdrawn when he wants to be. I can see little signs of him maturing and developing his wit.

We're working at the moment on getting him used to more reading and we definitely need to spend more time with him writing and drawing to prepare him for pre-school in September, but we'll get there.