West Bromwich

Sleeping’s for wimps!

Thursday 11th April 2013Baggie

Welcome to the first post-paternity leave update. Yes, I am back in the adult word with responsibilities to my employers as well as to the family. So as many of you are taking time off at Easter to be with your families I am somewhat contradictorily returning from time off work. Perhaps Ezra has sensed this change in circumstances for he, too has decided to change his circumstances. For the first two weeks of his life he was unbelievable as a baby. He would feed and then sleep. Wake when he was hungry, maybe cry a little and then feed and go back to sleep. Obviously there would be the regular effect of all that food and he certainly doesn’t like his nappy changed with his bits all on show. However apart from that he was an almost ideal baby. Then it changed.

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

I’m sleeping

Sleeping close-up

Just pretending

Go away!

Asleep on Nanny Fran

Fancy dressed Cousins

Our little brother

Coochie-coo

Hello!

Zonked

In the land of Nod

Nice and relaxed

My new hair style

She’s trying to kiss me!

A kiss for my brother

I’ll paint your nails!

Admiring my nails

Cuddling Ezra on Auntie Liz’s lap

Nanny Fran, Auntie Liz and the Grandchildren

De-dah!

Nanny Fran and Ezra

Like my glasses?

Look at me!

One day I’ll be that tall!

A week at Nanny Fran’s

Sunday 3rd March 2013Friday 8th March 2013Baggie

A second update in just over a week, I’m trying to make amends for the lack of activity in 2013 thus far. So what warrants this activity? In a word (or two) half-term. The first half term of the year was the first half term since Nanny Fran’s retirement and the last break before Baguette number three makes his arrival. Nanny Fran therefore kindly offered to look after both girls for the week. Obviously we asked the girls if they wanted to go to Nanny Fran’s for a sleepover and the answer was an overwhelming, yes. Indeed they were excited for the entire lead up to their Black Country adventure and spoke of it constantly for at least the week beforehand. Thus, Sunday morning while Lucinda was completing her antepenultimate day of work before thirteen and a half months of holiday and maternity leave kick in, I drove the girls up the M40 and their home for the next 5 days, West Bromwich.

As is the norm these days ‘Muppets – Soundtrack’ CD was fired up and before Starship’s ‘We built this city’ had begun both girls were asleep and so I could continue with Daddy’s choice of music. As we approached West Bromwich they awoke and as I pulled up outside my childhood home both girls got out of the car all excited to see Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz and quickly made themselves at home. Since they were so settled I decided that I would head back home after lunch.

And so a week away from the girls (and a week off work) began. It was a very strange feeling and the house seemed very empty (and quiet) without them, however it did allow us to get on with all the jobs that we felt needed to be done in order to prepare the house for Baguette number three’s arrival.

So what did we do? Task one was to move the girls in together. We had decided that we wanted to move the girls in together to free up the box room ready for the new arrival, and although the need for that bedroom is at least three months away (he will be in our room for the first few months), we wanted to move them in together prior to his arrival. The reasoning behind this was to prevent his arrival being associated in the girls’ minds with a change in circumstances. Life is going to change enough with their little brother’s arrival without the loss of their individual freedoms. So, what was, Éowyn’s room was emptied and bunk beds were built and then furniture returned. This also gave us the opportunity to deep clean the entire room and organise their many toys. The beauty of the bunk bed arrangement means that they have a lot of floor space on which to play.

Although this sounds like a relatively quick job, it did take best part of the day. However we did finish early so that we could take advantage of an evening without child responsibilities and go out for a meal and actually relax in each other’s company without entertaining small ones at the same time.

The second day we spent out of the house primarily looking at cars. As previously mentioned the imminent arrival of number three means that Lucinda’s Nissan Micra was a little too small. We spent sometime researching cars back at the tail end of the summer and we poised to make the decision until Lucinda’s appendix interrupted the process. Now we had the opportunity we decided to see what was on the market. We knew the type of car we wanted: A second-hand Ford S-Max. We knew the specification that we were having, the price range we were willing to pay and the extras we expected to get. Not expecting to see the exact car we wanted we headed to a Ford dealership that we knew had a large selection of S-Maxes to put our names down and give them the specifications we were after. We looked at a number of S-Maxes and then amazingly we found one that fitted our requirements. A test drive and conversation later we put our deposit down and arranged a pick up for the following Tuesday.

Lunch beckoned and then time to make another purchase. This one not as expensive but just as important: a new mattress. After an hour or two of trying out mattresses across a number of bed showrooms before we found the one that we both felt was the most comfortable and again a conversation later we had made our purchase and we had a second successful day had been completed.

Excited about our purchase (the car) and thinking that it would be nice for the girls to talk to their parents we decided to ‘Facetime’ (other videtelephony software is available) the girls. Unfortunately that was a bad idea and one we will not repeat should they stay with Nanny Fran in the future. Both girls became very upset and insisted they wanted to come home. This in turn upset us, even though we knew that they were fine, but their upset continued into the night which caused Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz to have less sleep than they are used to.

The remainder of the week was spent getting plastic boxes of new born clothes and toys out of the loft and cleaning the house from top to bottom. Lucinda is in full nesting mode something that is very difficult to accomplish when there are small ones running around and preventing full nesting behaviour.

Friday was Lucinda’s penultimate day at work and the day that I picked our little ones up and they got to see their bunk beds for the first time. But more of that in a later write up. But what did the girls get up to in West Bromwich? If you ask Éowyn then it was nothing. Whenever Éowyn has been anywhere and you ask her about it and what she has done the answer is always nothing. ‘Éowyn, what did you do at school today?‘ ‘Nothing.‘ ‘Éowyn, what did you do with Mommy today?‘ ‘Nothing.‘ So we found out off Nanny Fran.

As I mentioned at the start of this write up Éowyn and Amélie ran into Nanny Fran’s house all excited on the Sunday morning. They made themselves at home almost immediately getting their toys out and settling in for the week. Then Amélie put her toys and they she went up to Auntie Liz and asked for her nails to be painted. Auntie Liz obliged and so I was surplus to requirements.

The next day Auntie Liz had taken the day off work and so the four of them headed off on an adventure to Hatton Adventure Farm at Hatton Country World. They spent the best part of the day there playing in the various playgrounds and visiting the farm animals. There is even a petting zoo and the girls got the chance to hold a Guinea Pig. Amélie was apparently the more bold of the two, volunteering to hold the rodent but Éowyn took some convincing, and would only stroke it so as not to allow her younger sister the upper hand.

Tuesday saw Auntie Liz at work and so Nanny Fran had them both to herself. So Tuesday’s adventure was contained to the town of West Bromwich. They paid money into their bank accounts and headed to Nanny Fran’s erstwhile workplace. Again the girls were very well behaved but again Amélie was more bold than her elder sister greeting all of Nanny Fran’s ex-colleagues and even kissing them good bye as they left.

Auntie Liz took Wednesday off so Nanny Fran had support for the second day of the week and more adventures were had including a trip West Bromwich’s Dartmouth Park. So Éowyn’s summary of ‘nothing‘ as you can see was somewhat misleading. In addition to the adventures there were visitors to Nanny Fran’s house and visits to various friends in West Bromwich including a trip to see Great Grandma.

I am not sure who enjoyed the trip to West Bromwich the most the girls or Nanny Fran. Neither am I sure who was the most tired after the week in West Bromwich the girls or Nanny Fran. It was unfortunate that the weather particular wintry (it is winter) which meant that there weren’t too many attractions open and also it was a little too cold to spend too much outside (for Nanny Fran as much as the girls!). Therefore when it warms up a little and Nanny Fran has had a chance to recover the girls will have to go up for another extended visit. This will appease the girls since they were very upset to leave Nanny Fran’s and didn’t particularly want to come back home (that’s a nice thing for us to hear – we are only their parents!).

So Lucinda is now on maternity leave and the countdown is nearing its conclusion therefore stand by for the big news in the next week or so.

Peace and Love

Baggie

On the farm with Auntie Liz

What’s in here

Hmm, lamb!

What is it?

Just stroke it

It’s mine!

Going for a drive

Like this

Can you dig this?

First to fall

I win

And down

Auntie Liz’s girls

Look at what I have found

Nanny Fran’s iPad

Like my balloon?

The best pressie ever

Up, up and away

She’s a model

Pinned ya!

Nanny Fran’s gang

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