Nanny and Granddad

Éowyn’s Third Birthday!

Thursday 20th October 2011Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

Less than three weeks after our youngest turned one our oldest turns three. Time is definitely travelling faster than a superluminal neutrino for the Bagnall family at the moment (although the closer you approach the speed of light the more that time dilates so probably not the best analogy – but you get the idea). Again it doesn’t seem five minutes since we were in St. Peter’s hospital and we were looking at our first born through the perspex window of an incubator in the ICU. Not quite as romantic as sitting there with her in your arms but as you may remember she was quickly rushed to ICU after her birth as she was born with pneumomediastinum and hence there was no time for cuddles before she was whisked away. She has not suffered any ill affects due to that initial condition and indeed it has not stunted her growth either physically or cerebrally.

The weeks between Amélie’s birthday and Éowyn’s have been relatively quiet, work has still been busy (although I am now at the start of a fortnight off work) but I have been able to get home at a more reasonable hour each night. (It brings it home to you when you drop your daughter off at Nanny and Granddad’s before heading to work when she asks ‘Daddy, will me and Amélie be in bed when you come home tonight?‘. Sometimes it is hard to remember why you are doing what you do).

Éowyn’s birthday celebrations started the on the first day of my vacation (two days before her birthday proper), with a party at Nanny and Granddad’s with her cousins and Lucy’s family, a kind of precursor to the Badger Moot. It was a relatively sedate affair as the elder cousins keep our two little ones entertained for the majority of the afternoon allowing us to have some adult conversation and actually enjoy our meal for a change rather without the interruptions or encouraging Éowyn to carry on eating. After the meal we allowed her to open her pressies and cards and sang happy birthday to her as she blew the candle out on her Peppa Pig cake. A perfect ending to birthday number 0ne.

The following day was a joint third birthday party at the Egham Leisure Centre’s soft play area with the other couples from our NCT group. We hired the same place last year and so we knew what we were in for. The booking allows you exclusive use of the soft play area and the adjoining room in which they provide party food (Jamie Oliver wouldn’t be happy but chicken nuggets, chips and crisps go down far better than the cheese, ham and jam sandwiches that are also provided). Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz met us there and Auntie Liz brought her face painting case to practise on Éowyn’s cohorts. The two hours seemed to fly by but with one eye on the kids there was hardly a chance to actually have any lengthy adult conversation with the fellow NCT-ees (is that the correct term?).

Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz then followed us back home where Auntie Mary came over to complete the Bagnall side. Again we allowed Éowyn to open the pressies from her Bagnall relatives. She was very happy to be the centre of attention for the second day in a row. It must feel to poor Amélie that she is forever in the shadow of her older sister. It doesn’t seem to bother her though and she is quite unassumingly progressing and will grab the attention of someone in the room and demand that you sing ‘Row, row, row the boat’ to her. Demand is probably a strong word but will encourage by starting you off with ‘Rowrowrow‘. That person tended to be Nanny Fran on Sunday. She has also started to pull herself up onto her legs now, so you have to be careful where you put things, for the number of safe places is beginning to dwindle.

Monday saw Éowyn’s actual birthday and so we decided not to take her to pre-school but Peppa Pig World instead. The weather forecast implied that it was going to be dry if a little cooler than late (probably still average for the middle of October) and so it seemed like it could be the last opportunity of the year (unless we head to Santa’s Christmas Wonderland at Paulton’s Park). The weather forecast (for once) was fairly accurate (apart from a short sharp shower) and we took full advantage of the diminished crowds and managed a significant more of the rides than the last time we went. It didn’t start out too well though for all the way down to Peppa Pig World Éowyn was asking if she could go on the Windy Castle ride. So the first ride we headed to in the park was the Windy Castle ride but as she looked up at the tower she freaked herself out and decided that she didn’t want to go on it anymore. We feared that this was going to be the precedent for the day, fortunately it seemed to be just a blip and she went on every other ride without a second thought. We even managed to enter the Peppa Pig shop and leave without buying anything!

So Éowyn’s three day celebration of her birthday came to a close and once again she was blessed with a multitude of cards and presents, thank you to everyone who sent either or both, it is most appreciated by us and more significantly by Éowyn herself as she becomes more aware of birthdays (and Christmasses) and what they mean (presents!).

Although this instalment is mainly about Éowyn’s third birthday, Amélie has some important news too. Since she has reached the grand age of 12 months it is time to test her milk protein intolerance. We went to see the dietitian yesterday and she has given us a timetable of what to test her with and what to look for. It begins with half a biscuit that contains milk (the milk in the biscuit will have been cooked at a high temperature and therefore changed its shape. In a highly intolerant person the body will still recognise the protein structure and they will have a reaction, more usually the body fails to recognise the protein and nothing happens) and ends with diary being introduced into her diet as usual (assuming she has grown out of her intolerance. Obviously this is a long process especially if she has any reaction to the milk protein (in whatever form) along the way but of course we will keep you informed. The dietitian has also warned us that even though she may have grown out of her intolerance there is a strong possibility that she may just not like dairy products and she has not grown up with the taste or has a deep memory in her subconscious of her early encounters. A little like me with cheese! She was also weighed and measured and now tops the scales at 9.88kg (21.7lbs) in the 75th centile while her length has her in the 98th centile – so another tall child. The weight gain is very pleasing it has to be said for she was born in the 75th centile and before her milk protein intolerance had been diagnosed she had dropped below the 25th centile, so it is good to see her maintaining a good weight.

I shall leave you there and as I am off work at the moment there will hopefully be another instalment in the next week or so. Look for the photographic evidence of my weight loss, you maybe impressed.

Peace and love

Baggie

Comin’ to get ya!

Trying to distract you

This is fun!

Cheese!

Still got my party hat

Half the man I was

Windy Castle

That’s too high!

Everybody walk the dinosaur

Suzy Sheep

Éowyn and Peppa

Peppa and George (and Éowyn)

All aboard!

We are right behind you

It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to

It’s Peppa Pig World

Whee!

Don’t want to go home…

Zonked!

Zonked too!

The ride home was quiet

Amélie’s First Birthday

Friday 7th October 2011Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

How time flies, the second update in just over a week celebrates the fact that our second child is now one year old. It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were in the car heading to St. Peter’s, managed to lay claim to the last bed in the labour ward and after a relatively short labour, we held her in our arms for the first time.

In some ways the second child is easier: you know what you are doing (OK that is never true – you are just a little less paranoid about what you may be doing wrong); the skills that you had trouble mastering are now old hat (nappy changing, maintaining a semblance of normality on 3 hours sleep and making up bottles at 03:00!) and you have all the paraphernalia (or at least the ones that you have found to be useful).

Then in other ways it is more difficult: Adults may understand and forgive you your grumpiness or lack of attention due to weeks of disturbed sleep, a 2 year old doesn’t; adults may understand that a new born needs love and affection and a feed every few hours, a 2 year old doesn’t and adults more easily accommodate the fact that there is another member of the family, a 2 year old doesn’t.

In fairness to Éowyn, she has actually accommodated to the new arrival that is her little sister extremely well. Although it probably helps that Amélie has yet to invade her last bastion of refuge: her bedroom. Amélie still sleeps in our bedroom, mainly because she still wakes at 0530 every day for her first bottle of the day. Hopefully this will not last much longer and then we will be able to move the girls in together, for as it currently stands it would not be fair on Éowyn not only to move her sister into her room, but also to move a sister that is also an alarm clock that cannot be set for a later time!

So, in addition to the above, what have we learned this year? I think the major lesson we can take from 2011 is the fact that no two children are the same. Amélie is far more laid back than Éowyn. Without wishing to compare, Éowyn was a lot more advanced than Amélie at the same age. This is partly due to Amélie’s milk protein intolerance, which must have made her life hell for the first few months, which meant that there was not as much time for play in those early weeks and partly because we have has so much work done to the house that there has not been the space for her to practise and exercise those muscles. I also think this laid back nature also comes from the fact that because she always has a big sister vying for attention so she is not as precious about being the centre of attention, for unlike Éowyn, she never has been (not in a nasty way, simply because Éowyn was the only child and therefore had the undivided attention of two parents through her formative years).

We also have learned the benefit and strength that can be taken from a supportive and understanding health visitor. Amélie’s milk protein intolerance would not have been diagnosed so quickly without her support and I think that Lucinda and I would have gone insane with the powerlessness that we were experiencing with her over those first few months. To have some fighting the system from the inside and not just insisting that it was colic or wind or ‘just get on with it that is what babies do’ was a huge boon. So thank you Kate!

And what have we lost this year? The ability to have a lie in. As mentioned above Amélie is like clockwork waking up for her first feed at 0530 (if you are lucky) and sometimes she will not settle afterwards. Lucinda has done the vast majority of those for she has been on maternity leave and I have been working (usually getting up not long after), however now Lucinda has returned to work then this will be shared more evenly especially when some of Lucinda’s shifts start at 0500! If she would only sleep for another hour she would be the perfect baby, but I suppose those don’t exist – or grow into terrible toddlers!

The only other thing that we have lost this year is weight. Both myself and Lucinda have been dieting since May and I now weigh (a lady never reveals her weight so Lucinda’s goals can remain secret) 4 stone (for Americans: 56lbs for everybody else: 25.4kgs) less than when Amélie was born and 3 stone (42lbs, 19kgs) less than in May! As, I am sure you can appreciate, I am very pleased with this and now the real challenge begins of maintaining that weight loss. Scarily I am 5 stone (60lbs/31.75kgs) lighter than my peak weight in April 2009. I will no longer be the fat dad at the school gate!

The weekend before Amélie’s birthday, Nanny Fran, Auntie Liz and Auntie Mary came down to visit. It was going to be a good chance for me to meet up with them too, since the last time they came down I was working. Unfortunately due to the issues we have been having at work I had to work that day also, so once again I missed them. However, it was nice for the girls to see the Bagnall side of the family and they will all be coming down in a couple of weeks to see Éowyn on her birthday! So I will catch up then.

So what did we do to celebrate Amélie’s first birthday? As the weather was unseasonably warm on her birthday (28°C – in fact the 1st October was the warmest day ever recorded in the UK (29.9°C) even though that was followed by the first snowfall on the mountains of Scotland less than a week later!) we decided to head to Peppa Pig World. Fortunately we decided to book our tickets on line. What a stroke of luck that was for we discovered that Peppa Pig World is now closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays (Amélie’s birthday was on Wednesday). No fear we thought we’ll go to Legoland and use our Merlin passes again. While we were on line we thought that it was probably a good idea to check out the opening ties in case they have changed now the kids are back at school. Foiled again. Legoland is also closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Where were we going to go? We asked Éowyn where she would like to go. ‘The Jungle to see some animals‘. Was the reply. So a zoo it was. Lucinda suggested Whipsnade and the decision was made.

We were quite impressed with Whipsnade. It is huge (the UK’s biggest zoo) over 600 acres and the animals have plenty of room to run about. It was so big and the day was so nice that we didn’t managed to see all of it. We did manage to see a quite impressive bird display, the sea lion display and the penguin feeding. Éowyn wanted to see the lions (which were asleep about six feet from the viewing window which was fantastic) and tigers and bears (oh, my!) which we managed to do with the obligatory hike in between before she suddenly started to cry. I asked her why she was crying, ‘I want to stroke something,‘ she said. Lions and tigers and bears (Oh, my!) are not the kind of animals you can really stroke (however much I would like to) so we trotted off to the petting zoo where she happily chased after sheep, goats and llamas! Amélie was rather nonplussed by it all, even though it was her birthday treat! We returned from Whipsnade ahead of the rush hour to one of Nanny’s roast dinners which was the perfect ending to her birthday.

And so our littlest one has completed her first year and we prepare for Éowyn’s third birthday. Yes, third birthday! Which seems a scary concept for again it doesn’t seem five minutes since we welcomed her into our world and this website began!

Also in the news: Lucinda has returned to work, so Amélie has begun to go to Jo’s (our childminder) and the real juggling of work, child minder, pre-school and the rest of life begins. I have taken some days off work to help with this transition but we have no illusions that this is not going to be easy but hey, who said that life is easy? Fortunately our uxorilocal residence means that we can take advantage of Nanny and Granddad and with Lucinda’s brother just round the corner, we have a very handy matrilocal support team.

Before I leave I’d just like to say congratulations to Ollie and his wife Callula on the birth of their daughter Lexi Annabel, welcome to the world Lexi.

Love and Peace

Baggie

What’s in here?

It’s my birthday

My pressie!

What?

I’ll shake Mum’s coke

And bite it!

Rapper’s delight

Cheque please

I made this…

Happy Birthday Amélie

Birthday giggles…

Present opening help

Cheeky smile

Einstein impression

Y, M, C, A

Ready

Steady

Go!

Yes?

Family pride

Moody

Peppa Pig World

Saturday 2nd July 2011Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

I promised you a second update within a week, and here it is. As I mentioned in the previous update, I had worked eleven straight days and so I juggled a couple of extra days around the weekend to recuperate and get back in touch with the family. Fortunately I timed those days off with a mini heatwave (two days of 30°C temperatures (apparently the warmest day in the UK for 5 years) – nothing compared to the heatwaves of old, but a heatwave nonetheless!). The first of those days off was blessed with a visit from my family, as mentioned in the previous update. The next two (the hot days!) were taken up with what we sold to Éowyn as adventures. So with sun block (not sun tan lotion as we are all fair skinned and the idea of a tan is ridiculous we just need to stop our skins from burning!) on and picnic packed we headed out in the trusted Honda Civic!

Sunday saw us in West London, not that far from my place of work, at Kew Gardens. Lucinda’s uncle and aunt are season members of Kew and thus have a number of free tickets for friends and relatives and hence we took them up on their offer of heading to Kew for a family day out. It was my first visit to Kew, even though I lived in Richmond for over 4 years and could see the pagoda from my bedroom window. I hadn’t realised how much ground Kew covered (300 acres!) and how extensive gardens were. Éowyn, however, was more interested in the Climbers and Creepers and Treehouse Towers play areas. Although we did drag her away to visit the Xstrata Treetop Walkway. Unfortunately they are having issues with the lift and so it was a long climb up the stairs carrying Éowyn, although thankfully Lucinda’s mum and dad stayed at the bottom with Amélie and the pushchair which was a bonus. Whether it was the hot weather or the walking but we felt thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and were quiet relieved when we got back home. Overall the children play areas are excellent but Éowyn is a little too young to appreciate the grandeur of Kew Gardens and so we will probably have to wait until she is a little older before we visit again.

Monday, however, was all about Éowyn. Éowyn’s favourite television programme is currently found on Channel 5 at 0815. For the non-parents (or non-UK) readers of this site, the answer is Peppa Pig. For those of you that are not familiar with Peppa Pig: it is a series (or three series) of five minute cartoons centred around Peppa (an anthropomorphic girl pig) and her family (parents, one set of grandparents and her little brother George). All of her friends have similar family structures and are all mammals with alliterative names (Peppa Pig, Suzy Sheep, Danny Dog, Pedro Pony etc). They all live in houses, have jobs (in the case of Miss Rabbit: many jobs!), drive cars and wear clothes. Éowyn will watch episode after episode of Peppa Pig without getting bored and if I am honest, they can be quite enjoyable from an adult point of view as there is enough in each episode aimed at the parents to keep them interested.

In April (2011) Peppa Pig World opened at Paulton’s Park in Romsey in Hampshire. The journey is only 60 miles or so and is motorway all the way so it took just over a hour for us to get there. Éowyn’s friend Alexander was on holiday in the New Forest with his parents (obviously) Verena and David and baby sister Olivia, so we arranged to meet them at Peppa Pig World and make a day of it.

Peppa Pig World is excellent, there are lots of rides for the young ones to go on and because it is in a corner of Paulton’s Park it means that it is self-contained and you haven’t got miles to walk between rides. Again it was a very hot day (except for the short sharp shower that hit while Lucinda and David were on the tractor ride with Alexander and Éowyn, leaving Verena and me to grab the picnic and the babies and hide under the shelter of a tree!).

Éowyn thoroughly enjoyed herself and I think we will have to go back, as we did not manage to get on all the rides. We also managed to keep her away from the big Peppa Pig gift shop, as I don’t think I have that much limit left on my credit card! Again I think the heat defeated us and by 1500 all four adults we were shattered and in fairness so were the kids, so we decided to call it a day and head back up the M3. Would defiintely recommend Peppa Pig World to all parents out there, and although we didn’t explore it, Paulton’s Park proper also looked quite interesting for older kids. Pity it’s not part of the Merlin Pass family.

The following day the heatwave broke. A heavy thunderstorm hit our part of the world (in fact the business park that my company is situated took a direct hit and it has upset a number of pieces of technical equipment). The weather is now closer to 20°C than 30°C and a lot fresher. Summer is over.

Before I returned to work we had one more place to visit. Amélie had an appointment with the paediatrician at St. Peter’s hospital (the place of her birth). This was a follow appointment regarding her reflux (the milk protein intolerance is being treated by the dietician). It appears that Amélie has grown out of her reflux and thus we have been told to stop the drugs. We expressed our concerns that she does not seem to be developing as quickly as Éowyn did (although she was quite precocious!). The paediatrician gave her a physical examination and is quite happy that there is nothing physically impairing her, it is just that she is taking her time. Apparently taking after her dad, as I only learned to crawl backwards and decided that it was easier to walk on two legs than learn to crawl. Taking to two legs much earlier than my contemporaries. Time will tell.

I will leave you with photos from Kew Garden and Peppa Pig World, enjoy and don’t forget there are plenty of new photos on our Flickr site (link in right hand column).

Peace and love

Baggie