New Year

And so we are here at the turn of another year (that has a certain poetic quality – I like it). It is just over a fortnight since the last update (the Christmas message notwithstanding) and it seems like an eternity since then. Obviously there has been the snow, Amélie’s continued feeding issues and the little matter of Christmas.

This update is a little belated and becomes the first in 2011 rather than the last in 2010 due to the fact that I have been struck down with ‘flu. Now a lot of people say that they have a touch of ‘flu but from my experience over the last couple of days there is no such thing as a touch of ‘flu. I basically haven’t managed to get out of bed for days, I haven’t eaten a meal for 5 days, every single part of my body has ached. If the house had been on fire I do not think I would have had the inclination to have got out the house, I have been that lethargic. Even the sound of Lucinda playing with the girls wasn’t enough to make me want to get out of bed. My fear has been passing it on to the girls and Lucinda. Lucinda did develop a heavy cold but managed to shake it before it turned into whatever I had, and so far the girls have colds but again relatively mild. Let us hope it stays that way.

Back to the update: The Saturday after the last update the UK got hit by another deluge of snow (we should be getting used to this by now). About 4 inches or so fell in about an hour in our little corner of the country, far more in other parts. Due to the speed of the deluge Heathrow airport struggled to cope with the de-icing of the planes and the clearing of the runway. This was unfortunate for the people trying to catch a flight and the people that work at the airport as someone that lives not that far from the south runway the fact that there were no flights for the best part of 4 days was bliss.

We took full advantage of the snow on that Saturday and introduced Éowyn to the joys of building snowmen and having a snowball fight. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, which is in stark contrast to the snows at the beginning of the year when she was perhaps a little too young to appreciate it and just complained that it was cold. Unfortunately the snow prevented two pre-Christmas meet ups that weekend due to the icy roads and the weather stayed below freezing for over a week, which meant that the snow that fell on the 18th was still about on the 25th. For the most part it was ice which meant that it was quite often safer to drive than try and take your life in your hands on the pavements, especially around the village.

This meant we spent more of the time in the house in that week leading up to Christmas which meant that Éowyn spent a little more time watching DVDs. One day she sat a watched Toy Story, followed by Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, then said “Toy Story 4 please, Mommy.” Lucinda explained that there wasn’t a Toy Story 4. “Then go to the shops and get one!” So Mr Disney and Mr Pixar if you are listening there is a little girl who wants another Toy Story film.

Éowyn has also developed a penchant for opening the front door to visitors. In fact she can get quite upset if she is not allowed to open the door. Obviously we have to watch her to make sure that she is not just inviting any Tom, Dick or Harry in but most of the time we let her do so. I assume that is it some kind of control, that she is controlling her environment and I have no problems with her being our little gatekeeper. She also likes to open the door when we are leaving the house. So one frosty morning before Christmas it was not unusual for Éowyn to insist on opening the door for me. As I stepped outside, she shut the door. As I was halfway down the path I heard her little voice say ‘Bye, Bye Daddy.’ I turned round to return the farewell but also to tell her to shut the door as it was bitingly cold but the door was shut. However the letterbox was open and a pair of blue eyes were looking at me through the gap. I waved goodbye and went to work with a smile in my step.

Amélie is still causing us worry. She seemed a lot happier on her artificial milk and we thought that all was going well however when Kate (the Health Visitor) came to weigh her, she still had not put on the correct amount of weight and was still concerned about the amount of reflux that she has. So Kate got us a prescription for another artificial milk, Neocate (as opposed to the Nutramigen that she has been on) and suggested that we see our GP to obtain a referral to a Paediatrician as it is possibly more that just Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerance.

So Christmas Eve we saw our GP who has prescribed a dual concoction of Domperidone and Ranitidine as this would be the first point of call for the Paediatrician it would save us a couple of weeks of treatment. So that is where we are at the moment. Domperidone is given help keep the entrance to the stomach closed to prevent reflux, it also promotes emptying of the stomach contents quicker. Ranitidine is used to inhibit stomach acid production. We are yet to see if this is the winning formula.

Despite her obvious discomfort Amélie is still a happy baby. She is very alert and enjoys sitting on your lap looking around at what is going on. She will hold your hand and coo and gurgle at you. Nothing is a heart-warming as when you little one first smiles, and although Amélie has been doing that for a while now when she returns your smile the feeling is not diminished. Let’s hope we can sort this reflux out so that we can see a lot more of them.

Now to the big event. Éowyn woke on Christmas morning to a stocking full of pressies hanging at the side of her bed and two piles on the floor. Obviously Santa thought that she had been a very good girl over the past year. Although she is beginning to understand the notion of Christmas the good thing was that she still doesn’t have the excitement factor and so was still asleep at 0900 Christmas morning. How many more years is that going to happen?

Christmas lunch was around Lucinda’s parents with Lucinda’s brothers and their families, so all the Grandchildren were together on Christmas day, which is lovely to see because they all get on so well together, even if Éowyn is a little bit bossy with them. It was a nice Christmas present from Lucinda’s parents, too: cooking Christmas dinner for us, so we could concentrate on the kids without having to juggle kitchen duties!

Boxing day I was back at work, so the festive break for me were a little short, but then we are used to that as a family, working in two of the industries that don’t stop for holidays.

Then it was Christmas number 2. Up to Nanny’s Fran’s for a more presents and more Christmas dinner. Nanny Fran gave us a nice Christmas present too, which was a night off as she looked after Amélie (and Éowyn) overnight. Both my sisters were at Mom’s so it was the Bagnalls together for a couple of days. Éowyn loves her Nanny Fran and aunties and kept them entertained (and busy) even though it was such a short visit.

As I have mentioned in an earlier update. My sister Mary has broken her elbow. During the first bout of cold weather at the end of November she slipped on ice and landed on her elbow. This means that, among other things, she is unable to drive. So she hitched a lift back home with us. Now although I have a mid-sized car, with two car seats in the back it doesn’t leave a lot of room for passengers. Luckily we squeezed her in and headed home as my body started to succumb to the symptoms of ‘flu.

Considering my deteriorating condition and the patches of fog we made it home safe and in good time only to find a theft had occurred. OK, perhaps that it is a little over-dramatic but when we left there was a covering of snow on the grass and at the edges of the paths when people had cleared cars and tracks through the snow, yet when we got back you would have never have know that it had snowed at all. The snow had been taken and replaced by mucky rain. Makes it all look a little dirty and dreary as opposed to the snow that tends to make everywhere look bright and pretty. Turn your back for five minutes…

The remainder of the year saw me in bed ill, and on New Year’s Eve myself and Lucinda Lemsiped up and went to bed at 2100. Fortunately the few fireworks that were in the area were not enough to rouse Éowyn and we had a relatively peaceful night.

So maybe a little belated but an epic so apologies and all there is left for me to do is to wish you all a very Happy 2011

Happy New Year

Baggie

Smile!

Me possé

The art of sleep

I love my sister

Planning my next move

Nanny Fran and Amélie

Posing in the snow

It’s cold!

My first snowman

What’s that Mum?

Snowball!

Gotcha!

I suppose you could say that is a little late, but what’s two weeks between friends! Christmas is over and it is back to the business of getting ‘back to normal’ for although Christmas does not mean a break from work for either Lucinda or myself, our jobs are different over the festive period due to the fact that the majority of office based jobs and schools are on a break and it does make the journey into work a lot easier as the traffic is considerably lighter.

I can not go further without mentioning the weather. The coldest start to a January in my lifetime, with snow falling in some part of the UK every day for the last 4 weeks and a return to the kind of winters I remember as a child. My inner child has been delighted. Unfortunately as a country we are not prepared for this kind of weather event and many parts of the country grind to a halt to the bewilderment of those from countries that would consider our snowfall ‘a dusting’. Disappointingly the temperature is set to rise over the next few days and so the snow that is lingering in the sheltered corners of gardens will no doubt disappear, however the long range forecast is for a return to the colder weather. A little more snow in my corner of the world would be gratefully received. Not too much mind you, just enough to make everywhere look pretty. Thank you.

For the first time in a while neither Lucinda or I saw the New Year (decade) in. I had been working all day and Lucinda had to get up at 0400 on New Year’s day to work at the airport. So the thought of staying up just to watch the arbitrary turn of a man made concept seemed to lack appeal. It is not as if it has any basis on any observations (like the ancients’ notion of basing the year on solstices and equinoxes), for our society one measures a circle, beginning anywhere. Seemingly the reason that the beginning of January marked the turn of the year is lost in the midsts of time (unless anyone can tell me otherwise) although it possibly dates from 153BC and the Roman Late Republic (and hence it’s spread throughout Europe). Interestingly 1st January was not adopted as New Year’s Day in England until 1752 with the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, until then we celebrated New Year’s Day on 25th March (the Feast of the Annunciation). See that was Quite Interesting.

Therefore New Year’s day morning it was just Éowyn and me, but she was very kind to her old father and stayed asleep until 7.30, much to Lucinda’s disgust as she had been up with our little one the previous few nights and had been made to get up early on her days off. How times have changed that we think that 7.30 is a lay in! We were kindly invited to Lucinda’s brother’s for New Year’s Day afternoon along with Lucinda’s parents and Uncle Bill and Auntie Sally. After an initial few minutes of shyness, Éowyn was soon enjoying herself with her cousins and chasing their cat around trying to stroke her.

So although New Year’s Eve was a a non-event, the 2nd January was very different. My good friend Sanjiv’s brother, Jay, was getting married to his long term girlfriend Emma at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane opposite Hyde Park in London. It was a black tie affair and with the grandeur of the setting it all added to make it a fabulous wedding and we felt privileged to have been invited. There had obviously been a lot of work behind the scenes to make all the little details (and the big ones) seamlessly meld together. It was great to meet up with Sanjiv and with Si and Stef to whose wedding we’ll be going to in the summer. To take full advantage of the day we decided to stay the night at the hotel so that we didn’t have the worry of trying to get back home. This obviously meant that we needed baby sitting cover for the night. Again, Nanny Fran (and Auntie Liz) came to the rescue. So a big thank to Mom for looking after Éowyn so soon after Christmas weekend.

With a return to the usual routine comes a return for Éowyn to go to Jo’s (her childminder). I’m not sure who missed who the most. Éowyn certainly enjoys herself at Jo’s, and is now quite happy to go and wave us off but I think that Jo genuinely enjoys looking after Éowyn, which is a huge bonus for us.

Éowyn really enjoys interacting with adults and other children. She especially likes singing and quickly picks up the actions to the songs. Perhaps that’s why her great-great uncle David and great great auntie Sally bought her a musical instrument collection consisting of a xylophone, tambourine, hand bells and a pair of maracas. Needless to say she really enjoys that present and makes sure that we all have an instrument to join in. Recently she has begun to make towers out of her Duplo bricks (like we would for her) and then knock them down. As they crash to the floor she holds her hands to her month in mock surprise and horror before doing it all again. But her favourite ‘toys’ are still her books and she will quite often choose one and bring it to you for you to read it to her.

So last week saw the decorations return to their boxes for another year. Éowyn tried to help (she has recently begun to help to tidy, including put things in the bin – whether they need to go there or not! -and putting her toys away if you ask her nicely) and was quite sweet with one of Lucinda’s many snowman ornaments (see photos below). And so with the Christmas decorations down (doesn’t it make rooms look bare? – I think that is partly why there is such a dearth of photos from which I could choose for this update) and the snow and ice making way for leaden skies and drizzle the new decade begins and we look forward to the many surprises and opportunities that it brings. May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at you back.

Peace and Love

Baggie!