Weight checking & food

Today we brought Emanuele to his pediatrician. She will be on holiday for a month, so we decided to see her before the usual visit between the second and the third month. Actually we went to ask her a list of questions... twelve questions to be precise to which she answered with kindness and patience. Among all the other doubts we had, we came back home reassured about our way of dealing with Emanuele, with his crying crisis and with my way of feeding him. We also had the occasion to weight him again after almost 2 weeks. We could not bring him to the national health service in the last weeks because of the hot weather, being the timetable for this service between 2 and 3 in the afternoon (no comment!). Anyway, Emanuele is now 4250 gr and 54 cm long: this means that from the birth he gained more than a kilo and 5 cm of length. I would say that feeding is going well and I must admit that I am very proud of this :)
We were not that surprised actually since it is pretty obvious that Emanuele likes to eat. Besides, with the hot weather of the last week, he used to ask for it every two hours! Now things are going a bit better, with a request every 3 hours on average... even though, still every excuse is good for him to try to obtain some extra milk...

Emanuele is trying to convince me that it is time for lunch... while it is not!

Not obtaining anything from me, Emanuele is trying to convince Maurizio to convince me that it is time for lunch...

Portrait

Tired dad with sleeping (lucky him!) baby.

A lucky shot

I like to take photographs of clouds: they are unique nature's shapes, never equal to themselves. This afternoon, while capturing this cloud complex over the street where I live, a bird crossed the sky... just a lucky shot!

Dawn of a new day

Today, 5:55 am, right after feeding and changing Emanuele.
A new day of this unique summer is starting.

Dawn Of A New Day
(In Flames - "Reroute to Remain" album - 2002)

The thoughts of yesterday forgotten
I like the way this new skin feels
Bring me splinters of tomorrow
Collect the parts where I win

Against the grain
Against the odds
I'll rise and I won't trip again
The dawn of a new day never looked
As good as this

Concrete breath and dust filled tears
A one way ride to inner peace
I never thought I'd join the others
Those who use the dice to solve

With Javier

Today our friend Javier (from Ecuador) came to visit Emanuele. As you can see Javier is an expert in deeling with little ones!

Between science and curiosity

The brightest object in the Universe is showing its colors thanks to combined images from NASA's three space telescopes. In a photo released 21 July, a jet of high-speed particles shoots from the first known quasar, 3C273, which was discovered in 1963. The jet stretches 100,000 light-years, the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. The colors represent X-rays (blue) recorded by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, visible light (green) imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared (red) captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Yale University)

Recently a Maine lobsterman caught a lobster that looks half raw and half cooked. Half of the animal is mottled brown, while the other is bright orange—the color lobsters turn after they've been boiled. Experts explain that two-toned lobsters are rare but not unheard of. The shells of American, or Maine, lobsters usually sport a combination of yellow, red, and blue pigments. But the animals grow symmetrically, with each half of the body developing independently of the other.


The map (left) details the Andromeda galaxy's gas clouds—birthplaces of new stars. The galaxy (pictured at right) contains a trillion stars and is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own spiral, the Milky Way. Andromeda contains enough hydrogen gas clouds to form 360 million new suns, according to analysis of the new map, which is based on observations by a 98-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) radio dish in Granada, Spain. The map and an accompanying study appeared in the mid-July issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Experts say that those regions are important, because that is where new stars are either currently forming or will soon form.


Known in the weather world as a circumhorizontal arc, this rare sight was caught on film on June 3 as it hung over northern Idaho near the Washington State border. The arc isn't a rainbow in the traditional sense—it is caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What's more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground. This particular arc spanned several hundred square miles of sky and lasted for about an hour, according to the London Daily Mail.


In the northern Indian city of Lucknow, a mouse perches on a frog in waist-deep (for a frog, anyway) floodwaters—a small sign of the early arrival of annual summer monsoon rains. According to the Indo-Asian News Service, some rural Indians are holding frog weddings in the hopes that the amphibians' bliss will inspire farm-saving storms. After marking the bride and groom with vermillion and turmeric—traditional adornments in human Hindu nuptials—villagers take the supposedly happy couple to a nearby pond to honeymoon.

Emanuele's movie #6

Click on the picture to see Emanuele.
Title: Getting Asleep
Soundtrack: Dream Theater
When: Saturday 29th July 2006
Where: in front of the stereo
Why: in the attemp to calm down Emanuele
Comments: Nine months of i-pod with metal music had their effect!!!

Picture of the week

Today Emanuele is 5 weeks old!

With daddy

Gaia is born!!!

Yesterday evening at 22:10 in Asti, Gaia saw the light for the first time! Congratulations to her parents Fulvia and Andrei for the great job! All the best to the new little one for a long and happy life! Waiting for the pictures... LO, Mau & Emanuele.

Inter = dignita' zero (in Italian)

Post in lingue madre questo... solo perche' non riuscirei ad essere sufficientemente sarcastica e astiosa (come qualcuno mi ha fatto notare!) scrivendo in Inglese!

Dunque... le sentenze per "calciopoli" (grazie alla categoria "professionale" dei giornalisti per questa splendida denominazione!) sono arrivate in versione definitiva (salvo ricorsi al TAR). E come da copione la squadra che piu' di tutte le altre e' rimasta penalizzata e' risultata essere la Juve. Ma non e' su questo che voglio porre l'attenzione. Bensi' sul fatto che lo scudetto di quest'ultimo campionato sia stato assegnato ad una societa' e una squadra di piagnoni quale l'Internazionale... che di internazionale ha solo il fatto che ogni anno compra tutti i giocatori stranieri comprabili (facendoli diventare dei bidoni pazzeschi che non vedono l'ora dopo una stagione di andarsene) per evitare che vengano comprati da altre societa' di calcio italiane. Complimenti dunque all'Inter per avere VINTO lo scudetto del campionato 2005-2006. Lo scudetto dei record juventini, visto che nessuno potra' mai dimostrare che anche senza l'aiuto di Moggi e Giraudo (complimenti anche a loro per avere affossato una squadra come la Juve) la squadra non sarebbe riuscita ad arrivare laddove e' invece arrivata! Certo per una societa' di perdenti questo e' un grande risultato, posso immaginarlo! E posso immaginare che uno che di cognome fa Moratti possa dichiarare di essere FELICE per la sentenza del tribunale sportivo. E aggiunga che I TIFOSI INTERISTI SE LO MERITANO PER QUANTO HANNO SOFFERTO (tremo al pensiero di cosa potrebbe spettare ai tifosi del Torino!). Complimenti dunque in primis a Moratti per il modo in cui SA AMMINISTRARE una societa' di calcio che solo grazie a dei giudici (gia', dimenticavo di complimentarmi anche con questa categoria "professionale") ha l'occasione di rinnovare il guardaroba di bandiere e gagliardetti. Complimenti ai sofferenti tifosi nerazzurri che porelli aspettavano da 17 anni di intonare a squarcia gola "SIAMO NOI, SIAMO NOI, I CAMPIONI DELL'ITALIA SIAMO NOI" che ancora, nonostante tutto, non rimarra' che un misero gridolino strozzato nelle loro misere gole... e chissa' per quanti anni ancora!

E poi complimenti a Lazio e Fiorentina e auguri per il prossimo campionato di serie A. Complimenti al Milan e auguri per la prossima Champions League. Complimenti e grazie ai CAMPIONI DEL MONDO CANNAVARO, ZAMBROTTA e CAMORANESI (chi era costui?!?!?) che forse hanno dimenticato grazie a quale squadra sono diventati campioni del mondo. Complimenti e grazie a FABIO CAPELLO per avere aspettato il momento giusto durante il campionato del mondo per fare armi e bagagli in sordina, senza nemmeno salutare i tifosi, dopo avere a piu' riprese dichiarato la sua fedelta' alla Juve. Complimenti, infine, alla societa' Juventus gestita ormai da qualche anno da sconosciuti arrivisti capaci di scegliere avvocati incapaci di fare la voce grossa anche in un tribunale sportivo. Peccato davvero non ci siano piu' gli AVVOCATI del glorioso passato juventino! Per concludere, non resta che sperare che DEL PIERO e BUFFON possano dare il buon esempio ai giovani che li accompagneranno nella scalata alla classifica di serie B del campionato 2006-2007.... viva l'Italia...

Little scientists...

...grow up!!!

Faces

Let's try to do something!

Since a few days, Emanuele and I wake up early when Maurizio leaves to go to his part-time job. At 7:30 we are always up, now. Yesterday I had a list of things to do: clean the kitchen, clean the bathroom, do some work for the CRYSTAL group, prepare a decent lunch. Since Emanuele's baby carriage is too hot in these days, I decided to put him in the baby carriage for the car and to try to distract him with his new toy... it worked for 15 minutes, only the time to decide where to start to clean the kitchen... any suggestion on how to come back to some kind of normal life where I can decide about MY time?!?!?! And where MY time is not organized by a 50 cm human being?!?!?! Not to mention the fact that with this hot weather, Emanuele wants to eat every two hours! I guess I have only to wait for things to set up naturally. By the way: today I menaged to clean the bathroom :) Thanks little one!!!

Talis mater...

New hobby

Emanuele is playing with a new toy, gift from Valeria and Marco...
Also a gift for mum and dad actually, since it keeps Emanuele busy for a while...

Bagnasco & Bagnasco

With cousin Chiara, zio Roberto and zia Luciana.

With cousin Chiara and nonna Lidia

No Emanuele, no party

Yesterday Emanuele was 1 month old and we organized a party for him at the Valenzano's bar. Relatives and friends came. Emanuele slept, ate twice and staied awake for quite a long time enoying the company of the guests. We all had a good time! Thanks to everyone for coming, bringing nice and useful presents for Emanuele and to my family for organizing the party!

With Nonna Livia

With zio Enrico

With prozio Gianni

With zio Janos

First month!

Today Emanuele is 1 month old!!!

It's party time!!!

For true metallers only...

Today Emanuele received a terrific gift from Los Angeles: our friend Chris sent to him the t-shirt in the picture!!! A real metaller is growing up!!! Grazie Chris!!!

Picture of the week

Today Emanuele is 4 weeks old!

Magic position

How to help Emanuele during the crisis of pain to his belly.

Emanuele's movie #5

Click on the picture to watch Emanuele.

Group Shot

11th anniversary & coincidencies

Today Maurizio and I celebrate our 11th anniversary. We received the most amazing gift for this event a few weeks ago... As a matter of fact, Emanuele was born exactly 11 years after Maurizio and I met for the first time (23rd June 1995)!!!

Weight checking

Today we went to check Emanuele's weight to the public health service. Emanuele is now 3700 grams, so he gained half a kilo in 10 days. From now on we will try to check his weight every tuesday afternoon.

Emanuele with Nonno Lorenzo

First bath attempt

After a first encounter with the water through the feet only, Emanuele seemed to like a sort of full immersion. We will try later in the day with a real full bath.

Playing with daddy

Proportions

With Mommy

Working a bit

Luckily at least one in the family is working in these days...

Picture of the week

Today Emanuele is 3 weeks old!