I come bearing amazing news; My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last week. Beatrice, Bee for short, is just perfect and we’re both so happy.
Her introduction to the world was, of course, typically Italian; Late, noisy, stressful (for me at least) and full of unnecessary administration.
In fact, before Bee had even fully joined us, as my wife lay screaming on the delivery table, she completed her first form – a kind of pre-pre-declaration of birth. Hearing my wife breathlessly shout “dual…arrgghh… citizenship!” as I struggled to understand the seemingly never-ending list of questions coming my way is a memory that will stay with me forever.
She may only be five days old and 50cm tall, but already she has a Codice Fiscale, a medical card and a full medical history. She’s official.
In other news, we might have finally found a builder and my Italian has improved vastly (it’s amazing what you can do when your wife and newborn baby are depending on you…), but none of that matters right now. We’re hunkered down, learning the ropes, grabbing sleep whenever we can and getting to know beautiful little Bee.
Living in the Langhe 
Congratulations! she is beautiful! Auguri !!!
Thank you!!
Dear Friends, my heart is exploding with joy for you. Now you had better get her registered with your doctor, USLA, local school and cafe bar, in no particular order. Bravi xx
Thanks a lot June! I think the cafe bar has to take priority, possibly then followed by an introduction to the joys of the post office…
Did you know that providing you pay your bills by the due date, you can avoid going to La Posta and pay at many tabbachi shops? No queues!
Yeah, we’ve managed to pay some that way. Others, we’ve been less successful with. I must say, the feeling of achievement when you manage to pay a bill in just a couple of minutes as opposed to it taking a whole afternoon is quite overwhelming!! ;-)
Oh she is beautiful!! Tanti auguri!!
Thanks so much!
Hi Rich,
I don’t know if this will get t to you but if it does, congratulations from all of us (especially to the two girls!!!)
Al, Lydia and Isla x
On 20 Jan 2014, at 16:34, Living in the Langhe – a new life in Piemonte, Italy wrote:
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Thanks Al – I’ll pass that along to the two girls… both of whom are currently sleeping like babies!
Congratulations on your beautiful new baby girl! She’s adorable 🙂
Thank you… we think so! 😉
Yay!!! Welcome Bee ( love the name). Fantastic news, she is beautiful, enjoy just staring at her. I hope your wife is feeling a little more normal after giving birth.
Fabulous!
Thanks! We’ve been staring at her a lot and pulling all sorts of funny faces!! Allegra is recovering nicely, and Bee is doing really well.
She’s perfect! Congrats – your life will never be the same and your heart will be bigger than you ever thought possible!
Thank you! I think you’re right… it’s exciting and absolutely terrifying all at the same time!
how wonderful, congratulations!!
Thanks!!
Congratulations! She’s a dote 😉
Thank you! But what’s a dote!? 🙂
Really?! It’s just an Irish thing?! A dote is someone cute, sweet, lovable etc 😉
Really? I’d never heard that before, it’s probably just me though. But I like it, so thanks, and she certainly is a dote! 😉
Sent from my iPad
Congratulations from Lisa’s aunt in Vanuatu. What a gorgeous little girl
Thanks a lot Val!
Congratulations! May she bring you endless joy and love the way only children can!
Thanks so much Andreana – she already is!
FELICITAZIONI !!!! AUGURI !!!
Grazie Vera!!
Congratulations! I know you have heard that a lot but I do mean it. 🙂 Thanks for letting all of us know. Get some sleep. 🙂
Haha… we’re trying! I used to think only getting six hours a night was a dreadful sleep. Now I long for those day… 🙂
What wonderful news, and congratulations to you all!!!! I can see many years’ worth of wonderful Bee stories as she grows up “dual…arrgghh… citizenship!” — helping you in all your DIY projects. And how does Otto feel about all this excitement?????
Thank you!! Otto is being great. He’s inquisitive, he sniffs her a lot, but he seems to be putting up with it all quite well. I hope she’s good at DIY!!
Congratulations! She’s beautiful!
Thanks Jennifer!
Congratulations! How perfect.
Thank you!!
Welcome to this mad old world, Bee. Congratulations to you both, and welcome to the helter skelter world of parenting. Love from MM xx
Thanks MM… I think I may be sleep deprived already though. I just got myself a bowl of cereal and put the milk back in the bin rather than the fridge!
You’ll be fine, you’ll adjust to the sleep deprivation. It doesn’t last too long… just until your last child hits the age of five. Then you get to rediscover full nights of sleep, it’s fabulous 😉 Just kidding (well, maybe not. French children are programmed to sleep all night when they come out the maternity ward, but English genes got the better of my kids). Just make sure don’t put the baby in the fridge and the cornflakes in the cot.
See, I said I wanted a French child, but no, we had to go and get an Italian one… 😉
Auguri!! Congratulations!! May your days be filled with laughter, love and learning to see the world afresh through your daughter’s eyes! And good luck on the sleep thing!!!!! Lizzie
Thanks Lizzie!! We’re really enjoying it all so far (apart from the sleep thing, obviously…).
I bet! Every day is different and apparently the sleep thing gets better after 6-7 years according to my sister!!!! Happy adventures!!
Six to seven years!?!? What have we done…. 😉
She also said they were some of the best years of her life!! And once they start chatting its even more fun!!! Enjoy!!
Haha… thanks. That’s better! 🙂
Congratulations!!
Grazie Maria Cristina!
Congratulations, she is beautiful!
Jane x
Thank you Jane, we think so, but then we’re kind of biased!
Many congratulation to you, Mrs Sensible sends her love and I quote “If you need a baby sitter or any help phone us”
Thanks PN and Mrs Sensible! I think Mrs Sensible might regret that offer though… but even if we don’t leave her with you, we would definitely like to pop by some time and introduce her to you!
Congratulations on your beautiful little Bee 🙂
Thank you!!
Congratulations! Great news!
Although wow, dual arrrrrrgh citizenship – they could pick their moments! I do remember someone coming in to ask what sort of sandwiches I’d like and getting a similar response and she sort of realised that now was not a good time (and I never did see those sandwiches) but at least food is a multiple-times-a-day requirement, whereas citizenship is surely… well I mean a time limit, yes, but…??
Anyway. Sounds like everyone’s doing very well (including your Italian) 🙂
Thanks! I love the idea of them offering you sandwiches 🙂 I think this form had to be completed by the time of the birth, but I guess they didn’t want to complete it to soon… timing is everything 😉 It was bizarre though, answering all these questions – our places of birth, addresses, residency, citizenship – with our new baby just minutes away!
Everyone is doing really well, thank you!
Why by the time of birth? What happens if there’s a major emergency and it doesn’t get done, I wonder?
Not that it matters in your case. Enjoy the new addition!
Who knows… at the end they filled in the time of birth, signed it and stamped it, so I guess they wanted everything else filled in first. I guess it’s a kind of proof that the baby was actually born. I suppose they don’t want to do it too early in case, as you say, something goes wrong, but if they do it too late, there is no document to prove that the baby exists. And being Italy, there has to be a document! 😉
It’s just… these sorts of documents were filled out at least 24hrs AFTER the birth in both Singapore and Australia, so I’m wondering what’s so urgent in Italy that they should bother anybody mid-contraction? Anyway. I’m sure they have their bureaucratic reasons – it’s just amusing.
I remember ordering the chicken sandwich, on wholemeal bread. I’m still a little miffed they didn’t bring it, given how much effort went in to the order.
Ha ha… I can’t believe you remember what you chose! 🙂 Yeah, I can’t imagine they do that in the UK either, but I’m sure they must have their reasons. We were o caught up in the moment that we didn’t really see the absurdity of it at the time, but looking back, it’s crazy!
Congratulazioni! Wishing you both and little Bee all the very best!
Grazie!! Bee is coming along really well and Allegra is recovering nicely too. Even the sleep deprivation isn’t too bad just yet…
congratulation on the arrival of this beautiful bambina! now you have more renovation works to do. A pink nursery room for her!
Ha ha, thank you! I think I my also be painting lots of Bees everywhere thanks to her name…
Congratulations! and benvenuta Beatrice
Grazie Alberto!
Congratulations! What a gorgeous little thing!
Thank you! We took her for her first walk in the garden today and now she’s sleeping off the excitement! 😉
Well for once, italian bureaucracy is ahead of themselves instead of behind. Congratulations to your new baby girl. Will you be placing a large pink ribbon outside to announce Bee’s entrance into the world?
Yeah, it’s true, it’s good to see isn’t it. She had a Codice Fiscale before she was even born! We haven’t gone down the pink ribbon route, but everyone else in the hospital did.
Congratulations. A beautiful time in one’s life indeed. Enjoy all of it. Best wishes.
Thank you! It’s hard work, but we’re enjoying it so far!!
Oh wow, congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful-roller-coaster-ride of parenthood 🙂
Thank you!!
CONGRATULATIONS! Oh she is gorgeous!
Thank you! We think she is, but then we’re quite biased!
For good reason!
Congratulations! Our “kids” are 25 and 22, but we remember the times you’re experiencing now so clearly. You’re in for a wonderful journey.
Thank you! It’s all going really well so far. She’s going pretty easy on us I think. She sleeps amazingly well and puts up with being dragged around Northern Italy all the time without making a fuss.
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before but after
browsing through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m certainly happy I came across it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!
Hi, I’m not sure if the familiarity is a good thing or not, maybe I need to get more original! Anyway, I’m glad you like it and thanks a lot for reading and saying hello!!