Jamie meets a big chicken

This morning we took Jamie for his first visit to Harewood House in Leeds.

If you're not from Yorkshire and haven't heard of Harewood House, basically it's a big stately home owned by the Queen's rather appropriately titled cousin the Earl of Harewood. As well as the house, there is also a bird garden, some penguins, an adventure playground and a cafe - so we "did" everything but the house which no doubt we'll do when the sun isn't shining so brightly.

There were two highlights for White Junior - he went on the swings and he met a big chicken.

He wasn't sure what to make of the big chicken at first and the big chicken didn't appear to know what to make of him either. So they played a game of (yes, you've guessed it) "chicken" and attempted to stare each other out. Somewhat inevitably, Jamie soon lost his concentration - and hence the contest - when he decided instead to smile at passers-by. Still, it was another new experience for the boy and also for the big chicken who hadn't met our son before either. Hopefully they'll develop a better understanding of each other on subsequent get togethers.

Going on the swings was less of a novelty as his mum and several of his in-laws have taken him on the swings many times before. But I haven't seen him on one for some time and the change was huge - he really goes for it now. More and more of his little character is beginning to develop and there's certainly an element of fearlessness in there, at times verging on him being a mini-daredevil. We might have to get him a helmet.

One minor disappointment was the rather stuck-up approach taken by the penguins. There are supposed to be quite a few penguin residents at Harewood House but, today, only four could be arsed to show themselves and even they didn't put a lot of effort in. They were probably taking it easy in preparation for the Easter weekend but I, for one, was disappointed. Jamie clearly preferred the big chicken and I could see why.