Nanny Fran

Éowyn’s Fourth Birthday

Monday 22nd October 2012Baggie

So after an unplanned update due to Lucinda’s appendicitis and subsequent appendectomy we are back on track with one of the few updates that are planned years in advance. The whole raison d’être of this website, or at least it’s initial conception was you keep you, my dear readers, up to date with Éowyn’s progress. As she was our first child and there were so many of our friends and relatives that are spread across not only the country but the globe too, it seemed the easiest way to ensure you all had a window to glimpse the antics of this branch of the Bagnall family tree. That was four years ago. Yes, our oldest child has just celebrated her fourth birthday.

Usually the weeks between Amélie’s birthday and Éowyn’s birthday are quiet and uneventful, this year was far from uneventful however Lucinda’s appendectomy could not have happened at a more fortutious time in terms of either the development of our unborn son and to coincide with a quiet(ish) time at work. Obviously the most important of the two is the fact that our unborn bubba is seemingly well and healthy (our 20 week scan is in the coming week so stand by for yet another update). With an international break weekend the number of football matches coming through my work world drops from >70 to around 20 and hence although there are still lots of things to do at work my presence wasn’t as missed as it would have been on a full-on weekend of sport.

However, the five days I had off from work were necessary to look after the family while Lucinda begun to recuperate and just as work did not miss me that much neither did I miss work. Obviously it is not possible nor practical for me to take off Lucinda’s complete recuperation time off but neither is Lucinda up to looking after the children, this is where living in the same village as the grandparents comes in very handy. So the plan for this past week has been dropping Amélie off at Grandparents, followed by dropping Éowyn off at school. Then take myself to work. Granddad has been picking Éowyn up from school, then on my return from work, pick up both girls before heading home and cooking for the family. Then put the girls to bed and relax!

Wednesday saw Éowyn actual birthday. She was allowed to open some of her presents before school and insited on wearing one of her new dresses and another of her birthday pressies: a tiari and magic wand. This was the first birthday that Éowyn has spent at school (last year we took her to Peppa Pig World, something we should perhaps try and squeeze in before the end of the year) and was also the first of my children’s birthdays I have spent at work. However I did manage to make it a short day and get home before rush hour to take Lucinda to Nanny and Granddad’s for a birthday dinner and a muppet themed birthday cake.

Éowyn really enjoyed being the centre of attention and made Nanny light the candles three times so that she could blow them out, again, again and again. We got home and opened the rest of her presents and she seemed incredibly pleased with everything she got, indeed telling Lucinda, ‘Mommy, this is the best birthday ever.‘ It is nice to know that a home cooked meal with Nanny and Granddad and some presents surpassed the trip to Peppa Pig World from last year! Will it always be like this? I doubt it.

The week continued in the same vein, with Lucinda recovering well but still not strong enough to look after the kids, me at work and Lucinda’s parents looking after Amélie each day and Éowyn after school. As the week wore on the strain of looking after two young kids was becoming more deeply etched on Nanny and Granddad’s faces and although they would never say anything I decided that an alternative needed to be found for the weekend, especially since I would not be able to get out of work early on either Saturday or Sunday to help put the girls to bed. Call in Nanny Fran.

Lucinda’s parents live within a two minute walk, Nanny Fran lives a two hour drive away. Lucinda’s parents are retired, Nanny Fran retires at the end of the year so getting Nanny Fran involved take a little more organising. So Friday saw a similar start to the day as had happened all weeklong. Amélie at Nanny and Granddad’s, Éowyn at school, then a 15 mile drive to work. I got out of work a little early and then picked up the girls from Nanny and Granddad’s. Back home for roast chicken, then get the girls ready for bed, pop them in the car and then a two hour drive to West Bromwich. I got to Nanny Fran’s just before 10pm and put the sleeping girls straight to bed. They were now in Nanny Fran (and Auntie Liz’s) care.

Woke up the next morning, said goodbye to the girls (who seemed to be very excited to be on an adventure at Nanny Fran’s) and drove the 130 odd miles to work. It seemed very strange to head back to home with just Lucinda there (and to drive a car with no child car seats in the back). Obviously it was nice to see my wife but the house seemed oddly empty without the girls, even though had they been there then they would have been asleep. It was also strange to get an uninterrupted night of sleep, I can not honestly remember the last time that happened. Then back to work on Sunday for me while Nanny Fran brought them back down Sunday afternoon.

Not sure who had more fun at Nanny Fran’s, Éowyn and Amélie, or Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz. From the photos and the stories probably Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz just edged it. At least next year when Nanny Fran has hung up her last file of photocopying then there can be lots of adventures for the girls (and the new addition to the Bagnall family) in West Bromwich! Indeed when I asked Éowyn if she wanted to go back with Nanny Fran, she became all excited.

Hopefully Lucinda will carry on recovering as well as she seems to be and so the reliance on Nanny and Granddad (and Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz) not to mention the extra taxiing and workload that I am carrying will lessen. You realise when something like this happens just how much teamwork is involved in raising kids and looking after a house, especially since the majority of that side of the family tasks is done by Lucinda as I tend to be at work up to 6 days a week (oh, for the correct six numbers this week!). You also realise how precious life is and how quickly it can be put in danger. It puts in perspective what is important in life and what is just flimflam and although no doubt the flimflam will begin to creep up in pseudo-importance over the next few months, I just hope we can both remember what this episode has taught us and hopefully it will also help you to realise the flimflam in your own lives.

Peace and Love

Baggie

A smile for the camera

Stop it!

A shaded smile

Just playin’

A cheesy grin

Smile

A just a little bit more

A masterpiece

The completed work

Seesaw

Margery Daw

Johnny shall have a new master

A cheeky smile

I’m not listening

Sisters!

Éowyn and Mommy

Run Éowyn, run

Can’t you drive any faster?

And blow

You are not cutting Kermit!

Bagnalls

Post Olympic glow

Tuesday 28th August 2012Thursday 30th August 2012Baggie

It is only a short few hours before the Paralympics hopefully picks up from where the Olympics left off. The whole of the UK still bathes in a post Olympic glow and not all down to the fact that it was our most successful games of the modern era (29 gold medals beaten only by our haul in the 1908 Olympics – also held in London) but the spirit that was generated by the whole event. Even the football stars are trying to use the country’s love of all things Olympian to try and raise its, sometimes, tarnished reputation. As a West Bromwich Albion fan I am very content that after 2 games of this season we are still undefeated. Olympics or no Olympics that makes for some very happy Yam-Yams!

It is August, the football seasons have arrived and as usual i am manically busy at work. Any regular readers to this blog and anyone that works with me will realise that August is a time when I get very little time for anything and so updates to the cyberworld are usually few and far between and days with my family are precious. However, two days off around the August Bank Holiday, Amélie asleep, Éowyn playing in her room and Lucinda shopping I thought I would try and take the opportunity and give a little update on the life in the Bagnall household.

As mentioned in the previous update after 3 years, Jo our childminder has given us notice and on the 21st August 2012 she looked after the girls for the last time. It is quite sad and it makes child care difficult as we have no true alternative, there may be lots of trips to Nanny and Granddad and Lucinda and myself taking days off work when possible. The joys of ‘family-orientated policies’ of this and previous governments. Nevertheless we will find a way, it will just require more advanced planning on our behalf.

Nanny and Granddad have spent the majority of the Summer with at least one, and on a number of occasions with all of their grandchildren playing at their house. Although this must be a nightmare (in a nice way) for them – and they are truly knackered at the end of the day – it is fabulous for the girls for they get to spend a lot of time with their older cousins who genuinely enjoy playing with the two little ones, even if they can be a little bit of a handful at times. I am sure that Nanny and Granddad enjoy it too and running after them all sure keeps them young and fit sometimes I am not sure how they do it I can be knackered after looking after just Éowyn and Amélie for the day.

Amélie has been worrying us a little of late. As anyone with kids will recognise (and I am sure ours are no different to any others), kids tend to go through growth spurts. That is, their growth pattern is not a constant rate but moreover a series of rapid growth spurts followed by a filling out. It is almost as though they bulk out, then stretch and then bulk out again. Amélie has just gone through one of these stages but during her growth spurt she seemed to lose and inordinate amount of weight and we were worried that there was something else. It is something that we will speak to the dietician when we next see her, for we went to see the doctor and the doctor assured us that there was nothing seriously wrong but admitted that it was a specialist question and that she did not feel qualified enought to advise. I think that is fair enough and since there was nothing seriously wrong and now that her growth spurt has ended she has begun to bulk out once again.

However, we have once again become really strict on removing all Cow’s Milk Protein from her diet to ensure that her intolerance wasn’t having any effect on the weight loss. Obviously she doesn’t get any dairy products per se but Cow’s Milk Protein is used in many foods that one would never realise, such as flavoured crisps. In our processed food world milk proteins can find their way into many foods and with one child that loves dairy food, inevitably there will be times when Amélie eats something meant for Éowyn. Now Cow’s Milk Protein intolerance does not mean that she will go into shock or come out in hives, but it does cause her pain and discomfort and, without painting too graphic a picture, doesn’t make her nappies very pleasant. A case in point was the other day when Amélie ate a yoghurt intended for Éowyn. Éowyn who is acutely aware that Amélie shouldn’t have any dairy, got upset because a) Amélie had eaten her yoghurt and b) Amélie shouldn’t have yoghurt (except her own Soya yoghurts). All was fine until the night when Amélie woke up screaming and I went into her and she hugged me tight saying ‘Daddy, it hurts.‘ Unfortunately there is nothing you can do except comfort her. At least when we see the dietician we can categorically say that she still has the intolerance.

Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz came to stop with Auntie Mary for Bank Holiday weekend, unfortunately I was working on that Saturday and Sunday so Lucinda took Éowyn and Amélie to visit their Aunties and Nanny. Although they were both very happy to see their Black Country relatives Éowyn was a little disappointed that her new best friend, Louise, wasn’t there. It was while they were there that Amélie first used her new phrase. She has been bouncing on the mini trampoline that Auntie Mary has and had fallen over. Everyone laughed and she stood up, pointed her finger at them, stamped her feet and said: ‘It’s not funny!‘ Cue howls of laughter. This has quickly become her new catchphrase and she keeps using it to the delight of everyone that hears it.

Although Éowyn’s new best friend, Louise, wasn’t at Auntie Mary’s, she does have a new best friend that she quite regularly sees. You may recall that last year Éowyn had an imaginary friend called Sam that came with us on holiday to Kent. He was quite a special friend as he could be small enough to fit on your thumb or be bigger than daddy depending on the day. He spent around a month in her life and then nothing more was said. A couple of months ago she acquired a new imaginary friend (or quasi-corporeal companion to give them their technical name) a brother (in her words) called Dizzy. She and Dizzy spend a lot of time together and he often tells her things that they should be doing and apparently they go on lots of adventures together. She hasn’t really described Dizzy too much and I haven’t pushed it too much as his appearances were very scant but now they are becoming more regular and she speaks of him several times a day I will delve a little more and see what I can find out about Dizzy.

Apologies for the lower than usual number of photos but as I am the photographer in the family (although a number of the photos below were taken by Éowyn and she seems to be following in Daddy’s footsteps) and I haven’t spent much time with the family then I do not have the breadth of photos to call upon. Will try harder for next time.

Peace and Love

Baggie

What a big handful of bubbles

Blow?

Oh, blow

Sleeping piggies

Peppa Pig’s Family

Mommy Pig and Daddy Pig

Mommy’s Orchid

Close up of Mommy’s Orchid

Mommy’s Orchid, again

Ready…

Wheeee!

That was fun!

Push us Aunties!

Can we go higher?

Higher!

Manha, manha – Mud!

Saturday 30th June 2012Wednesday 1st January 2014Baggie

June has nearly been and gone and still no sign of summer. Even last week’s Summer Solstice saw no let up in the unseasonably cold and wet weather indeed following the wettest April on record and a wet May this has been the wettest June on record. Something that I am acutely aware of for last weekend I was camping on the Isle of Wight at the annual music festival. As you may have seen in the media the heavy rain and tens of thousands of pairs of welly-clad feet churned the camping fields into a veritable mudbath. Fortunately we avoided the traffic jams caused by the influx of visitors but need not avoid the rain while pitching our tents or the storm (45mph winds and 1 inch (25mm) of rain) that fell on the Saturday night. So after 3 days of mud even the lure of Bruce Springsteen, The Vaccines, Noel Gallagher and other smaller acts was not enough for us to endure another 24 hours of inclement weather conditions. I was at Glastonbury in 1997 and 1998 so I have been there and done that and have no need to try and prove myself to anyone. Lucinda and the girls were surprised but very pleased when a muddy, tired, welly-clad daddy walked through the doors just before noon on Sunday afternoon.

That was last weekend and obviously there has not been many updates this month so what else has been happening in June 2012? With the poor weather it has not been the best of months to galavant through the English countryside and indeed use our Merlin passes. However, we are a stolid bunch with regards to the weather, being English you have to, and it did not prevent us from having a barbecue around Nanny and Granddad’s to celebrate Auntie Cristina’s 40th birthday. We even dressed warmly and ate outside (thankfully it stayed relatively dry).

Éowyn returned to pre-school the next day with a lot of encouragement from Lucinda and me to be good. Thankfully she has heeded this and so far this term we have had glowing reports about her behaviour. I think because she is relatively clever, but also relatively big that she is used to getting her own way and gets frustrated when she doesn’t. All part of growing up but still not good as a parent when you get called in because of her behaviour. With this in mind we have enrolled her in gymnastics classes at Spelthorne gym. Éowyn is very flexible (she will idly stuck her toes for instance) and forever pretending she is a gymnast and so we thought it would be good discipline couple with good exercise. We asked Éowyn if she wanted to go to gymnastics and she became very animated and excited about the prospect. The first time she went Lucinda was running late and so there was no time for Éowyn to think about what she was going to do and happily went in and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact all week she was excited about going again, however the next week they arrived in good time and Éowyn became nervous and didn’t want to go in and Lucinda had to end up pushing her through the door. It seems very cruel but it was what she needed and again she thoroughly enjoyed herself and so currently our eldest is a fully paid up member of British Gymnastics.

On the weekend between Cris’s birthday barbecue and the Isle of Wight music festival we paid a visit to West Bromwich and Nanny Fran’s. Éowyn has been asking lots of questions lately about my Dad (Granddad Vic). For those of you that don’t now my Dad died in 1987 (25 years ago!) and so not only did Éowyn never meet him neither did Lucinda, since he passed away 20 years before we were married! Obviously Éowyn realises that Lucinda has a mum and dad and I have a mum but where is my Dad, so we have been explaining it to her as best as we can. So part of the journey was hopefully going to go to Dad’s grave and show her where he was buried and being Father’s day it seemed apt. Unfortunately the weather was so poor that we never managed to go, hopefully next time.

Nevertheless a good time was had at Nanny Fran’s even though it was another flying visit. It has been a little while since Nanny Fran had seen Amélie and at the moment Amélie is going through one of those rapid development stages and so kept Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz amused for the entire weekend. Her vocabulary is growing, almost daily and she is now stringing words together to make sentences. Usually surrounding food, things like: ‘My daddy, breakfast please.‘ which is her usual greeting in a morning. Both girls love their families and they gt to see a lot of Lucinda’s side because we all live relatively close but because they don’t see Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz that often they do get very excited when they pop up to West Bromwich. That is not the usual reaction West Bromwich gets from people in Surrey.

As you may remember Éowyn first cinema visit was in February to see the Muppets movie (a particular favourite of Daddy’s too). This month saw the release of the film on Blu Ray and DVD and so it needed to be bought. Since we have bought it, I think Éowyn has watched it half a dozen times at least. It has definitely stuck in her brain because she will quite often burst into verses of Manha Manha, very amusing. There is another song that Éowyn has become fond of singing and that is ‘You are my Sunshine.’ It may be that she has inherited her father’s love of music but unfortunately at the moment it seems as if she has also inherited my singing voicing. Poor girl at least she has her gymnastics!

In addition to a lack of major days out, there is a dearth of photos since the last write up too, hence most of the below photos are from Cristina’s birthday party. We will try harder for the next write up.

Peace and Love

Baggie