Thus, as you can guess Ezra is putting on weight nicely and sitting happily on the 75th centile.  The health visitors are very happy with his progress and it appears he has missed the genetic lottery and cow’s milk protein intolerance.  As a coincidence we also weighed Amélie and Éowyn to compare them with their brother’s 12lb 12oz.  Amélie weighed 2 stone 2 pounds (13.6kg /30 pounds) while Éowyn tipped the scales at 3 stone 3 pounds ( 20.4kg /45 pounds); a nice symmetry to their results (in imperial measurements).

You are not here for weight updates though, are you?  You want to know what has been happening in the world of the Bagnalls.  Fortunately we have been blessed with some seasonal weather of late (although looking out of the window at the moment you wouldn’t believe it) and so we have been able to leave the confines of chez Bagnall and take full advantage.  Unfortunately I have not been on all those those adventures (work does get in the way), but there are plenty of photos to give you all (and me) the flavour of those adventures.

We have also managed to complete the adventure that is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Both girls thoroughly enjoyed the book even though it took us best part of a fortnight to read it and they kept up with the story remembering (with a little help from the voice-over guy type: ‘previously on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory‘) all the names and what was going on.  I have now said that since they know the story they can watch the film.  Neither of them have shown too much interest in the sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator though and to be honest neither have I, it doesn’t quite have the charm of the original, it is no Empire Strikes Back.

As I mentioned above Éowyn and Amélie have been taking advantage of the good weather playing in our garden, in Nanny and Granddad’s garden and down the local park, fully sunblocked up (Lucinda and I both have delicate celtic skin that burns easily, even in the poor weather we have had so the kids have no chance) with matching sunhats (the only item of clothing that they will wear that is the same).  The local park (Lammas recreation ground) has, in addition to the usual adventure playground a splash park.  Great fun for little ones (and the little one in adults), water jets squirt large arcs of water over anyone in area and the girls love it.  Fantastic fun on a warm day, so not that often this year.

However the weather doesn’t have to be warm for a Bagnall to go on an adventure, although if it is dry it is a bonus.  The girls have been on a couple of adventures since the last update.  The first was to the Great Cockcrow Railway in Lyne.  It is a miniature steam railway maintained and operated by volunteers and I am a little bit jealous that I wasn’t able to go (that work thing!).  Éowyn thoroughly enjoyed the trains but Amélie, being a little younger, was a initially scared of the tunnel but nevertheless when she was asked if she wanted to go on it again and seeing that her older sister was so keen to go again insisted that she went too.  The Great Cockcrow Railway is only open from May through to October and so if Daddy is going to go it will have to be over the next couple of months.

Daddy did manage to go on the second adventure though a trip around Saville Garden and Virginia Water with Éowyn’s best friend Raine.  It was a little insight into how live will be with three ‘mobile’ children, you really need to have eyes in the back of your head.  For although both Lucinda and I were there, there were occasions when all three would run in different directions and with large bodies of water and people walking dogs you have to be one step ahead all the time.  Not relaxing!  Thankfully there were all well behaved so that when we told them to stop or come back they did and so thoroughly deserved their ice-creams at the end of the walk.

Ezra accompanied the girls on their adventures but obviously was very much a passenger.  However his development is accelerating and he is far more alert now and will sit watching his sisters or mommy and daddy.  However the biggest and most pleasing development is that he has begun to smile and even giggle.  He will sit on your lap looking into your eyes and give you the biggest smile cooing gently at you.  When I come home from work the girls usually run to the door to give me a kiss to welcome me home and now, in addition to that attention Ezra will turn his head and look at me and give me his cutie smile.

Not only is Ezra ingratiating himself with his cute smile and cooing noises he is also giving us as much sleep as one could expect from an eight week old.  He goes to bed as we go to bed and will wake once in the night (as much as seven hours later) but only cries to wake us, has his feed and then goes back to sleep quite quickly.  He was even good the night he had his first set of inoculations.  Obviously he cried and got upset when he had them and was quite disturbed throughout the day and we were prepared for a bad night but as soon as the lights went out and he was lain in his moses basket he went to sleep for six hours. Can we ask for any more?  But now that I have told you have I put the collybosh on it?  We will wait and see.

Work is building to the end of season crescendo so afterwards worklife should calm down a little and hopefully their will be more time for me to take part in the Bagnall family adventures and you dear readers will hear all about it on these pages.  I will leave you now with a good selection of photos below and over 200 new ones on our Flickr (broken link now fixed) pages (I have been busy with the camera), feel free to pop by and check them out.

Peace and love

Baggie

So how likely is it that Ezra will have a ‘bad night’?  Not the easiest of questions to answer as it seems to be entirely random.  It is not normally night after night but it can be two or three nights in a row followed by a good night.  So what is the definition of a good night and likewise a bad night.  Before children a good night’s sleep would be in the region of 10 hours, since children 8 hours would be a miracle, since the birth of Ezra 5 hours is unheard of.  In fairness to Ezra he is probably a better sleeper than either Éowyn and Amélie.  So the current definition of a good night would be Ezra sleeping for 3 to 4 hours, waking up crying, feeding then going back to sleep and both girls oblivious to his cries.  A bad night (and we have had a few lately) would be Ezra not sleeping at all, crying for the majority of the night and his cries waking Amélie (and it is usually Amélie first – Éowyn sleeps through his cries).  Amélie then gets upset and starts crying and because she is in the same room as Éowyn, Éowyn will wake up.  Just what one needs before a full day during a busy period at work all three kids crying in the middle of the night!

This week it hasn’t just be the little ones that have been getting up in the middle of the night.  Last Friday we decided to treat ourselves to an Indian takeaway, unfortunately it did not agree with Lucinda’s digestion.  Now whether it was food poisoning, norovirus or just her body rejecting the spicy food the symptoms lasted best part of a week.  Now obviously, our first concern was Lucinda but, of course as she is the only food source for Ezra out thoughts quickly turned to him.   Can she pass the symptoms to him?  Should she continue breastfeeding while ill?  Should she be cuddling him?  So what do we do in the early years of the 21st century when we don’t know something?  That’s right we google it.  There is very little these days that is ungoogleable (or ogooglebar as the Swedish aren’t allowed to say) and this was no different.

So, ’should one continue breastfeeding when ill?‘  The overwhelming answer was ‘Yes!’  There are but a handful of conditions that can be passed from mother to child through breastmilk (HIV and HTLV-1 are the only infectious diseases that should prevent breastfeeding).  Indeed on the contrary since the mother is fighting an infection her antibodies are in overdrive and these antibodies are passed through the milk to the child giving them a head start in any future fight they may have with a similar infection.  It is just important to take care not to pass the infection on through the normal modes of infection, so avoiding coughing, sneezing over the little one and ensuring that hands are washed thoroughly before holding them are vitally important.  Obviously one would do that anyway but it was comforting to know that Lucinda should still breastfeed and so she did and Ezra was fine.

So with a poorly mother it was left to Daddy to become primary carer on his two days off.  It is always good to have some Daddy time and this was no different.  The girls love the Disney programme Jake and the Neverland Pirates and so we played that, with yours truly playing the part of Captain Hook.  Amélie took the game to heart (she was Jake) and for the last week she has no longer been calling me Daddy but Captain Hook and keeps trying to steal my treasure.  Didn’t realise that my acting skills were that developed! ‘Blast those puny pirates!‘

I also begun to try and widen their taste in music it started off badly, however David Bowie, The Beach Boys and Bob Marley were definite hits but then we found a favourite that eclipsed the others: Sammy David Jnr’s version of Candy Man.  I think we listened to it seven times in a row before I decided that enough was enough, I think it was the line ‘You can even eat the dishes‘ that caught Éowyn’s imagination.  I told her that it was a cover of a song from a film called ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and gave her a précis of the story and told her that I had the book and if she would like I would read it to her.  However because it is a big book it would take over a week to read it.  This is the first time that I have read a book to them that is going to take more that a single night, indeed I normally read three short stories to them before bed.  I wasn’t sure how they would take to it and whether they would have the attention span to last, no need to worry Éowyn is completely into it and even Amélie looks forward to it however being a little younger Amélie’s attention does wane a little and she has even fallen asleep before the night’s reading has finished.  The girls are not the only one enjoying a little Roald Dahl, Daddy is enjoying it too!

The big news of this update is that Éowyn has been accepted at her first choice primary school:  Town Farm.  It was a difficult choice as Town Farm hasn’t got the best reputation in the area however it’s latest Ofsted report was by far the best in the area and when we toured around the schools it was the most impressive, with great facilities including plenty of computers, a well stocked library and good sporting facilities.  Lucinda needed the most convincing for as she has been brought up in the area she is aware of the school’s reputation however the visit and the Ofsted report changed her opinion.  There is still a nagging doubt in the back of her mind but we will soon find out whether we have made the correct decision.

However it is probably not the school we have to worry about influencing Éowyn but Éowyn influencing the other children.  Éowyn is not only relatively clever but physically larger than the her peers and when she gets frustrated with her friends she can use both to get to own way.  Her best friend Raine, however is more than a match for her both physically and cerebrally and they are usually as thick as thieves.  If there is something going on those two are usually there or thereabouts, encouraging each other and their peers.  Last Friday was an example.

Raine’s mum had offered to bring Éowyn home as Lucinda was still feeling a little tender and as she dropped her off she said that she had been called into Playbox by the teachers.  Éowyn and Raine had somehow got hold of a pair of scissors and Éowyn had cut an inch off Raine’s hair.  Lucinda apologised but as Raine’s mum said, she wasn’t upset with Éowyn (or Raine for that matter who had encouraged Éowyn to do it) but with the teachers who had left scissors unaided.  It could have been worse, at least Raine’s hair will grow back.  Just before Easter then had both come home from pre-school with their faces covered in felt-tip pen which took a couple of days to wash off and fade completely.  It is never boring around at Chez Bagnall.

So after a winter that seems to have dragged which ended with the coldest March for 50 years the weather has finally turned warm (21ºC and counting!).  The girls have their summer dress and their sunscreen on it so it must be time to turn the computer off and play in the garden.

Peace and love

Baggie

For a week he didn’t sleep.  He fed, he cried and he pooped and that was all he did for nearly a week.  I think if it wasn’t for Nanny Fran Lucinda definitely, and me, probably, would have been in a complete state since I was trying to get back in the working mentality and Lucinda would have had both girls and Ezra to look after on mere snatches of sleep.  Not conducive to keep yourself compos mentis or to be in charge of small children.

So what caused Ezra’s sleepless nights?  It is hard to track down.  He wasn’t ill.  It went on a little too long to be something that Lucinda had eaten.  We are putting it down to a development leap, he was possibly becoming more aware of his surroundings and so his brain was trying to process all this new information.  According to the Wonder Weeks website this was a little too early but if we ignore this little oversight then it seems to tie in quite well.  One thought that did pass through our heads was whether he was developing Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerance like his sister.  Therefore we decided that we would take him to get him weighed at the next clinic to ensure he was putting on weight at the expecting rate.

While we were struggling with Ezra alone where were Éowyn and Amélie?  There were 120 miles north-west in West Bromwich at Nanny Fran’s.  Yes, Nanny Fran had offered to look after the girls for the first week of the Easter holidays and we jumped at the offer.  This would tie in with my first week back at work and so, the theory went, Lucinda could get into a routine with Ezra alone before trying to get into a routine with all three children.  As you can guess that idea didn’t quite go to plan but nevertheless was very convenient.

We drove up to West Bromwich in the S-Max, its first proper outing and the first time that we could use the in-car DVD in anger.  Ezra was very good in the car (as were Éowyn and Amélie) and we soon arrived at Nanny Fran’s.  As I have mentioned before Éowyn and Amélie love to go to Nanny Fran’s and this time was no different, they were very excited for nearly a week before the journey.  I am sure that Ezra will be no different when he grows up.  Indeed he realised that he was somewhere different and you could see him looking around and trying to make some sense of the new place.  As a baby’s eyesight isn’t that great it is possible that it is new smells that he is reacting to but whatever it was he definitely knew he was somewhere different and he was quite happy to be there.

This was Ezra’s first trip to West Bromwich, in fairness it was his first proper journey of any note.  News of his trip spread and even though we were only there for a few hours he had a number of visitors who came over to see him.  He also made a visit to his Great-Grandma.  It was the day after her 90th birthday and so there was a double reason to visit.  Great-Grandma managed to have an extended cuddle with her first Great-Grandson and Ezra was very good just lying there in her arms relaxed in his oldest relative’s embrace.

After a meal and a couple more visitors Lucinda and I then headed back home leaving our oldest children with Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz.  So while Lucinda was struggling with no sleep and I was struggling with very little sleep and getting back into work, what did Éowyn and Amélie get up to?

If you ask Éowyn then the answer would be nothing.  It is always nothing as I have mentioned before, but the photos paint a different story.   Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz spoilt them rotten (as a Nan and Auntie should).  They went to a couple of soft play areas, the West Midlands Safari Park and Auntie Liz took Éowyn to the cinema to see her first 3D film (Finding Nemo).

They were both very well behaved (well they were at Nanny Fran’s so they had no choice!) and came back with some goodies and had but one question:  When could they go back to Nanny Frans.

So before I leave you (with a good selection of photos) is Ezra Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerant?  While I took Éowyn to the cinema to see her second film of the week (The Croods – in 2D, none of that 3D nonsense for me) Lucinda went to find out.  Well if his current weight gain is anything to go by, no!  Tuesday morning is the Baby Weigh-in clinic and so Lucinda (and Amélie) took Ezra for the first time.  His last weigh-in was two weeks ago and so we were quite interested to find out how much he had put on.  We were not prepared for the answer.  The little bruiser now weighs 4.97kg (10lb 15oz).  He has put on over two pounds (just short of a kilogram) in less than 4 weeks and now sits on the 91st centile.  That’s my boy!

Please enjoy the photos below and don’t forget the photos on Flickr

Peace and love

Baggie

Easter is quite often associated with April, although of course it can occur at any time between 22nd March and 25th April.  (Easter is the only major holiday in the Western world that is moveable since it is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.)  So although this Easter is on the early side, although it is only 5 years ago that we saw one of the earliest Easter Sundays on the 23rd March 2008 (and we will have to wait until 2285 until there is one even earlier than that – 22nd March) the weather is far from paschal.  Not only is it cold but the wind is bitter and cuts right through you.  Our corner has missed the major snow event that has hit other parts of the country, with only disappointing snow flurries that barely make it to the ground but last Easter we were on the tail end of an impressively hot March and had organised the first (and so far only) Great Bagnall Easter Egg hunt.    There will be no repeat of it this year, with me at work and Lucinda coming to terms with looking after three children all on her tod in addition to the threat of a White Easter.

So what have we done with these final days of family time?  Not a lot is the honest answer.  I have been fighting some unspecified virus that has knocked me off feet a little.  It is one of those viruses that gradually works its way around you body so you feel awful all over.  Fortunately I seem to be coming out of the other side of it with only a hacking cough as the battle scar.  Unfortunately Lucinda’s mum now has succumb to the same virus, so we wish her a speedy recovery.  Obvious she is blaming me but I am blaming Amélie who has something similar last week.  We are hoping that neither Lucinda, Éowyn or Ezra fall victim.  However, Ezra has been fractious for the last day or so and although he is barely two weeks old this is out of character, so we hoping he is just having a bad day rather than he has the virus or worse still that it is a change in behaviour.  We will keep you up to date.

So with the combination of illness and bitterly cold weather we have stayed in and let people come and visit us.  So although we have been cooped up inside we have not been lonely.  We have had a number of friends pay us a visit over the last week and it has been nice to see so many of our friends that we haven’t seen in a while.  It is one of the fantastic things about a new child, they bring friends and relatives together.  It must be some kind of deep ingrained instinct that predates human civilisations that still has the power to bring communities/ tribes/ collective noun of your choice/ together.  A very powerful force indeed.

The only non-friend visitor of the week has been our first visit from the Health Visitor.  She was a very friendly lady and in addition to being very pleased with Ezra’s progress she was amazed at Amélie’s elocution and could not believe that she was only two and a half.  In fact because the Health Visitor wanted to check Ezra’s hearing and needed silence to do so, I had to invent a task to encourage Amélie to leave Ezra with Mommy and this strange lady and help me collect something from the car.  We timed it just right and the hearing test was successfully conducted (and Ezra successfully passed).  The next major test was another weigh in for Ezra and he topped the scales at 4.14kgs (9lbs 2 oz).  So he has zoomed passed his birth weight in his first fortnight, the boy (and let us not forget Lucinda’s part in this) is doing well!

When I said that we have been effectively bunkered down for the last week, that is not quite strictly true.  Éowyn has still had her last pre-paschal week at school.  It has been nice for the last fortnight taking and picking Éowyn up from school.  I quite often drop Éowyn off at school but it is rare that I pick her up.  I think that she has enjoyed this little bit of extra father and daughter time too.  It is nice to have a bit of time to chat in the car both before and after school looking forward to the day and then reflecting on what has happened.  It is also a time for her to ask questions and on a bright morning it will quite often be, what kind of bird is that daddy?  We are blessed with a number of the more unusual bird species in the village: Ring Neck Parakeets, Kingfishers, Red Kites and Herons rub wings with the more usual Collared Doves, Magpies, Chaffinches, Blue Tits and Mallards but the bird that caught her eye this week was a new visitor: a Little Egret.  I mentioned that we saw one on the day that Ezra was born.  It was looking a little tired and I feared that a fox might get it if it wasn’t too careful.  Now it is flying quite strongly, it is obviously feeding and more than that it is one of a pair.  Yes we have a pair of little egrets.  I wonder if they are raising little little egretlets (I don’t think that is the technical name – but it should be!).

Obviously now that I am back at work the frequency of the updates that I have been spoiling you with will drop back to a more usual once a fortnight (if you are lucky) and for that I make no apology however I promise to post lots of photos.  Also if you are at all interested and I didn’t bore you too much earlier in the update the latest Easter can be is the 25th April.  This will next occur in 2038 so although my children may have missed the extremely early Easter in 2008 (although it was about the time that we announced that we were pregnant with Éowyn) with good fortune we may all see the latest possible Easter occurrence (assuming we all survive the year 2038 problem).  Don’t forget to put your clocks forward at the weekend and I will see you in April.

Peace and Love

Baggie

So what has happened since last Thursday?  The most important event is surely the fact that Ezra John Bagnall is now an official member of the UK population.  With Éowyn at school and Amélie at Nanny and Granddad’s, Lucinda, Ezra and I headed to the local registry office in Weybridge to register his birth and obtain a birth certificate.  With a birth certificate we can now open a bank account for him and obtain a passport, so quite an important day.

The snow that hit large swathes of Northern UK on Saturday completely missed our corner of the land and we woke only to a slight dusting that quickly melted.  Thus Lucinda’s trip to the midwife clinic on Saturday morning wasn’t the epic journey that we were fearing when we went to bed.  This was the final check up by the midwifery team before being discharged into the realm of the local health visitors.  The midwife was very pleased with his progress.  There was nothing that concerned them regarding his physical health and indeed they were delighted with the fact that weighing in at 4.01kg (8lbs 13oz) he had returned to his birth weight.

Although the snow has missed us it doesn’t mean that it isn’t bitterly cold.  Indeed it freezing out there and so we haven’t felt like venturing out of the house preferring others to visit us.  The lack of snow disappointed both girls (and if I am honest – me!) and indeed when I told Amélie that Nanny Fran had snow, she asked if we could go to Nanny Fran’s to build a snowman.  I explained that wasn’t possible but we facetimed Nanny Fran instead and asked her to show us her snow.  That seemed to sate the girls.  While facetiming Nanny Fran, Éowyn entertained us talking to her imaginary brother Rich.  Rich is quite often the reason she is naughty (according to Éowyn) and this Saturday morning was no different.  Nanny Fran said that she didn’t like Rich and then Éowyn just turned on Rich and said that she had had enough of him.  She then called the Police (imaginary Police obviously) and asked them to put him in jail.  A little harsh.  But she wasn’t finished.  She disappeared off to the brother shop and bought another imaginary brother also called Rich.  It is more complicated than soap opera at times (with better imagination) and takes a bit to remember all the twists and turns.  Not sure what happens when original imaginary Rich gets out of imaginary jail to find his place taken by another imaginary Rich.

Apart from imaginary brothers the girls have been relatively well behaved considering the upheaval of having a new member of the family.  They both are very affectionate towards their brother (real brother) and fight over holding him.  Amélie especially holds him at least a couple of times a day.  The length of this cuddle can vary from a couple of minutes to ten minutes or more, depending on Ezra  behaviour.  If he cries she will try and comfort him for a couple of seconds before asking you to take him off her.  The funniest is when he has the hiccups.  For some reason Amélie finds this hilarious and literally laughs uncontrollably.  It is very amusing!

So maybe not the most exciting of updates but nevertheless important stages in Ezra’s life and not the most exciting of photos below I will try harder for next time.  However a small geeky thing that most of you will not of noticed but this website has reached a new milestone as it has now received 100,000 hits.  Some of you will long memories with think haven’t we been here before?  Yes we have.  But that was 100,000 hits split over two servers, my original WordPress hosted site (still available as www.afrobaggie.wordpress.com) and the new (not so new now) privately hosted site that is www.baggieandlucy.com these 100,000 hits are purely on the latter server and are in addition to the 65,000 hits on www.afrobaggie.wordpress.com.  As I have mentioned before it maybe only a small milestone that means absolutely nothing in the real world but it feels like a justification for the amount of work that I regularly put into this site.  So thank you all for your interest in the ups and downs of our family.

Peace and love

Baggie

Therefore the question is do I go for the finesse of the Ferrari, the style of the Lamborghini, the elegance of the Aston Martin or the raw power of the Ariel Atom?

I am leaving this to run for a couple of months, indeed until I actually go to Chobham and climb into the car, so there is no need to rush.

Many thanks for your input

Baggie

The day before my birthday we spent a quietish day mostly at home.  We ventured as far as the other side of the village to Nanny and Granddad’s for tea and buns to allow Nanny an Ezra cuddle while I gave Granddad his latest computer lesson on his laptop.  Then in the evening Ezra finally met his last Uncle and Auntie (Michael and Cristina) who had been on a snowboarding holiday when he was born.  He is well and truly a fully paid up member of the Cathrall-Bagnall clan.

The next day was my birthday.  So this is fortieth birthday I have celebrated, some have involved beer, some have involved tears, most have involved cake this is the first that has involved a week old baby.  Quite often one has a long list of wants for their birthday, this birthday was slightly different all I really really wanted was a good night’s sleep.  Thankfully Ezra is a very contented baby, he has not been too much trouble so far (I hope that hasn’t put the collybosh on that).  He sleeps, he eats, he poops and he only cries when he is hungry.  He is a very different newborn to both Éowyn and Amélie, in a good way.

So how did I celebrate this momentous occasion?  After a relevantly good night’s sleep (thank you Ezra) and after the girls gave me my card and presents I took Éowyn to school and the little egret that we first spotted the day of Ezra’s birth saw us off.  While I was taking Éowyn to school Lucinda cooked me a full English breakfast while I opened my cards and presents.  The pick of my presents was from my family and it is a super car driving experience at Chobham test track.  To be booked for some time this years I get to tear round a race track in one of six cars that I can only ever dream of owning.  I think I know which one I hope to drive but after the success of the naming poll I may just open it up to my readers to see which one you guys would chose.

Then the excitement of my birthday moved up a notch as we left Amélie at Nanny and Granddad’s while the three of us (Lucinda, Ezra and I) headed for lunch in Windsor after buying a new vacuum cleaner (not a hoover, as some may call it, a Dyson to be accurate, a DC34 Animal to be precise).  We know how to live.

The evening saw us at Nanny and Granddad’s for dinner, we were joined by Uncle Michael and Auntie Cristina and Lauren.  Unfortunately the evening was cut a little short as Amélie wasn’t feeling very well.  Indeed by the time we got her home she was running a temperature of 39.4ºC – scarily approaching the 40ºC when you should be heading to hospital.  We put her to bed and dosed her up with Calpol and monitored her temperature every hour.  The Calpol did its job.  She was still hot but at least her temperature was coming down.

Ezra slept well the night of my birthday again, going 5 hours between feeds, unfortunately Amélie did not.  She was still feeling the effects of her illness.  This could be a precursor of our future lives.  Even if the youngest member of our family sleeps there are still two older children that may not.

Thursday seemed to disappear.  Again Éowyn went to school while we took Amélie to sing-song time at Staines library.  She still wasn’t fully herself but she really enjoys the sing song time and so we thought it was important to take her.  She seemed to perk up after that but the illness had one final twist before bedtime.  Without going into all the gory details part of me was quite glad that she was wearing tights for it was contained.  However part of me wished she hadn’t been wearing tights for it was contained.  I cleaned her up and a quick bath followed by Calpol and she is back in bed.  Hopefully she has now turned the corner and hasn’t passed it on to any of us, especially Ezra who she delights in holding and kissing.

Although Thursday did seem to vanish quickly we did manage to make a number of important appointments including organising a time for the Health Visitor to check in and at the local registry office so that we can officially make Ezra a member of our country.

So I hope I haven’t bored you, with a week old baby it was never going to be the most adventurous of birthdays but nevertheless I have probably never been more happy.  Before I leave you to view the photos here is one anecdote that might raise a smile.  On my birthday morning I said to Amélie, ‘Who’s Daddy’s gorgeous girl?‘

Amélie folded her arms stamped her feet and replied, ‘I am NOT a gorgeous girl! I’m a cheeky monkey!‘  This may change when she is a little older.

Peace and love

Baggie

It is not very often that one of the most exciting things that happens to this family is sleep but that is exactly what happened on Saturday night.  Ezra is less than a week old so we are fully prepared for sleep depravation however Ezra threw us a curved ball by sleeping for just over 5 hours on his fourth night in the big wide world.  Yes, unlike his sisters Ezra simply eats and sleeps (and poops) at the moment.  He seems very contented and only cries when it is food time.  Now maybe this is due to the fact that we are more confident parents and he senses this; maybe it is because he is a boy or maybe it is just him.

So was this just a one-off? Perhaps a little too early to tell yet and although he didn’t last quite as long last night again he woke when he was hungry, fed, then went back to sleep.  We can not ask for any more from him.

So Sunday morning we awoke feeling more human and somewhat surprised and ready to receive visitors.  If Saturday was the turn of the Bagnall side then Sunday it was the ‘Badger’ side’s turn to meet the newest member of the family.  Lucinda’s brother Steve and his family popped round early afternoon.  This meant that Ezra had met (and had a cuddle from) all of his first cousins.  This included Finley his only male cousin and the original owner of some of his clothes.

Then Lucinda’s mum’s sisters, Aunties Sally and Diana came round with Adam and Lucy and John.  Again Ezra was very well behaved although his sisters were a little over-excited.  It must be very difficult for them because they are no longer the centre of attention when people come round.  We are trying to involve them in everything but obviously Ezra is the draw and they know that.

Both Éowyn and Amélie have been brilliant with him though.  They both fight over wanting to hold him and sit with a cushion on their lap and have quickly learnt to support his head.  Amélie especially will sit for an extended period holding her little brother, stroking his head and kissing him.  She is very cute, if at times a little heavy handed but that is to be expected and we obviously supervise them when they have him.

We have spent a very quiet Monday at home getting used to being a family.  The rain, hail and thunderstorms were a deterrent for even making it up the road to Nanny and Granddad’s.  Our family enclave was only invaded once by the 5 day check up by the local midwives.  They examined Ezra and took blood via the blood spot (heel prick) test.  This upset Éowyn thinking that these strange people who had come into our house were hurting her little brother.  Fortunately although it looked painful he was feeding and must have had his mind on better things because he didn’t even flinch.

They checked Lucinda and made sure that all was well with her and then finally weighed Ezra.  He weighed in at a surprising 3.92kgs (8lbs 10oz); he had only lost 92 grams.  This is excellent, it means that he is feeding well and we will be more content to let him sleep rather than fretting that he has slept for 5 hours!  A new born baby can lose up to 10% of their birth weight before the medical profession get too worried.  At this rate Ezra will probably surpass his birth weight on my birthday and definitely by his next weigh-in on Saturday.

So as I sit here with Ezra sleeping on my chest I will leave you to enjoy the latest crop of photos.

Love and Peace

Baggie

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, Amélie and Ezra.  Unfortunately 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

So for the first time for one of our children (and let us face it probably the only time) our son spend his first night at home.  Éowyn spent her first night in an incubator in ICU away from Lucinda, while Amélie spent hers in a cot at the side of Lucinda’s bed in the Joan Booker ward of St. Peters.  But because junior arrived at Oh my god it’s early in the morning he was able to be discharged by the both the paediatric and midwifery teams and released into the wild.

Nanny Fran also stayed the night to give us a hand and give Nanny and Granddad a night off too so that they could recover from the previous night and looking after the girls.  Éowyn and Amélie convinced Nanny Fran to read them their bedtime stories and Lucinda put her head down while I looked after my son in the lounge.  He had fed continuously from the moment he was born until lunchtime (or at least it felt like that for Lucinda) but then had only had a couple of feeds for the rest of the day.  He had obviously filled up and was waiting for his digestive system to kick in before he needed to eat again.  His digestive system did kick in and the pooey nappy that is the sign that his digestion is working made an appearance.

Lucinda managed a whole 3 hours sleep before I woke her to feed junior.  He fed and I managed just over an hour’s worth of sleep before the first of the sleepless nights that we will no doubt experience over the next few months.  I managed to sneak off a sat away fro everyone with him for a couple of hours but had to wake Lucinda at 04:30 for a feed.  I then passed out while Lucinda fed him.  At 05:15 the girls woke up but thankfully I never heard them and they went downstairs where Nanny Fran looked after them.  Junior then decided that he would finally go to sleep and so Lucinda and I managed to sleep until 07:00.  It seemed like bliss!

As Éowyn and I left the house to go to school a little egret stood on our lawn as if it had flown from Africa to pay its respects to the Bagnall boys – and I thought it was supposed to be a stork that delivered the babies!  Éowyn looked forward to going to school because she was excited to tell everyone that she had a little brother.  I returned home where Lucinda, Nanny Fran and I had a relaxing day with Amélie and junior.  It was nice especially half keeping an eye on the voting of the name that you guys like.  It seemed like a strange idea when I first thought of it but it has seemingly really caught all your imaginations and although junior hasn’t yet got a name I feel that he is a part of all your lives already.

Amélie was a cutie all day and kept requesting to hold her brother.  We thoroughly encouraged this but she is a little heavy handed with her and quickly gets bored holding him but it is all good in the bonding process.  Nanny Fran left in the early afternoon and then I collected Éowyn from school.  The teachers said that she had been tired, I feared that this meant that she had been naughty but no, she had just been quiet and not her usual self.  We put this down to excitement and the fact that she had been awake since 0515.  So we had a quiet afternoon and got them to  bed early.

Dinner (Tea, if you speak English correctly) was provided by Nanny and Granddad who cooked a Shepherd’s Pie for us and used the excuse (not that they need one) to come round for a munch of their latest grandchild.  It is so nice to have them so close and they will see a look of their second grandson.

The girls are in bed and junior is being quiet and all is good with the world.  I leave you with the latest photos, a bumper crop compared to yesterday and ask you to tune in tomorrow for another update (if I can manage it) and to view the results of the name poll.  We will announce the name as soon as we have managed to convince ourselves that we have chosen wisely.

Peace and Love

Baggie