The metaphorical white smoke billows out of the non-existent chimneys of Bagnall Manor and the world breathes a sigh of relief, at last we have finally agreed on a name for our son: Ezra John Bagnall. We now have to get used to calling him it rather than boy or Bilbo (indeed I believe that this will be his nickname whether he wants it or not). It was very interesting to see the voting patterns on this website and one my Facebook page and thank you all for your input and don’t feel too bad if we didn’t pick for your personal favourite. Interestingly the voting patterns on Facebook were slightly different to those on the website with Jacob and Noah neck and neck on Facebook with Ezra sneaking ahead of Noah by one vote on the website. It was never going to be a democratic vote but it was an interesting exercise to see garner thoughts from friends and family. Despite the Facebook voting pattern the overwhelming family vote was for Ezra John; grandparents, aunties and cousins all voted Ezra and so if we include family weighting then Ezra won hands down.
So why Ezra John? Simply, we decided to name our first son after his grandfathers. Lucinda’s father’s name is John and my father’s name was Victor (I say was as he passed away in 1987). So why Ezra? Ezra Bagnall was a locally famous pianist and organist in West Bromwich when my dad was growing up and for some reason, lost in the mists of time, it became his nickname. Some people only knew him as Ezra in the same way as some people only know me by my nickname Baggie. Now since our other two children have unusual names, indeed Éowyn is extremely unusual, it would therefore be a little strange and certainly be out of character for us to have christened our son John. In addition Ezra John seemed to flow better than John Ezra and Ezra seemed to fit with his sisters’ names: Éowyn and Amélie (Éowyn, Amélie and Ezra does flow doesn’t it?). Also, his middle name has four letters to fit in with his sisters’ middle names (Vera and Iris) however his name doesn’t contain an acute accent but you can’t have everything.
So did you miss me yesterday? I spoilt you on Thursday with two posts but then I was absent yesterday. Part of the reason was the fact that we had not fully decided on his name and part of the reason was the fact that we managed to have a quiet day with no visitors and apart from taking Éowyn to school and then filling up on groceries on the return journey we did not leave the house. It was quite nice taking Éowyn to school and then picking her up at the end of the day. It is also part of my effort to try and keep the girls foremost in my attention so that they do not feel that Ezra is pushing them out. Obviously this is more difficult for Lucinda as she is feeding Ezra and therefore has to pay him a lot of attention so I feel that the onus is on me to lavish attention on the girls. So when I picked Éowyn up from school I took her to the local supermarket to stock up for the week.
Éowyn doesn’t usually like going to the supermarket but I managed to convince her with a combination of turning it into an adventure and encouraging her by making it seem that I needed her help and bribing her with the promise of a magazine. As we entered the supermarket Éowyn saw the display of cut flowers and said ‘Can we buy Mommy some flowers?‘ How could I refuse?
So she chose a bunch and into the trolley they went. I then thought I would ask her what she felt about her new brother? ‘Is it a little weird and strange to have a baby brother?‘ I asked.
‘No Daddy,‘ she replied, ‘but what is weird,‘ she continued, ‘Is that Mommy feeds him with her boobies.‘ I tried to explain that is what boobies are for but she wasn’t having that, so we left it there.
Saturday saw the first of the visitors. Lauren (voted for Ezra) and Maddie (didn’t vote) , his cousins, were the first of the visitors. Maddie hogged the cuddles for longer than Lauren but I am sure that it will even itself out over time. Then Nanny Fran (voted for Ezra), Auntie Mary (voted for Ezra) and Auntie Liz (voted for Ezra) came down laden with presents. There were presents for Ezra, for Éowyn, for Amélie and some for me (it is my birthday – my 40th birthday – on Wednesday). The girls were very excited to see their aunties and even more excited with their presents.
So Ezra is now part of the family proper. He has a name and is beginning to meet his close relatives (and more tomorrow hopefully). He is keeping his mommy and daddy up at night but sleeps (like a baby) during the day and poor Lucinda is only getting snatches of sleep between feeds – for he is feeding every 3 hours. She is currently getting one of those snatches of sleep while I look after my son so I will leave you there and let you enjoy the photos.
Peace and Love
Baggie
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