child and dad

Every day there is another outfit I have not seen before.

why we work

Most of the weekend was delightful around our house. I didn't get caught up on my grading or on my parent contacts but we had lots of quality family time together. We took the child on a shopping trip and did very well on an expedition to a local family-friendly restaurant where we got a hearty breakfast for overworked and underslept mom and dad.

The child continues to develop in personality. He likes the car, fortunately, and most of the time he will ride happily as long as the car is moving. He likes being rocked in his car seat. He likes to be laid across my lap on his belly and to be played like bongo drums.

quick snap

Just a quick entry on my way to the shower. Started the new unit on dynamics and so far it's going a lot better. I get to spend more classes on rollerblades anyway. The school has put in a purchase order for the first shipment of equipment I requested, which is very encouraging.

The boy is thriving. G needs continued rest in order to get back to normal, say the midwives, but in general she is doing very well. We continue to more or less cope, and even made a homemade dinner this week!

Here's another picture by my uncle, from our visit to my folks this weekend.

more grandmothers

Me and G had to weasel out of a family dinner on Friday because it was scheduled for the late hour of 6:30, which is about 10 minutes before I usually fall asleep after a day of high school.

As a result, the child has been grandma-deprived which is a shame. Grandma Paula, pictured, has also been invaluable to the new parents. Last weekend she left us a pot of homemade stew that kept us going through several hungry nights.


But we are going to make up for that this afternoon with our first trip to grandma and grandpa's house, over the river and through the woods to Mendham. Mom's making manicotti.

But for now I really need to concentrate on a unit plan for dynamics.

lifestyle notes

We are about to take our first family trip to Wholefoods to buy grownup food and eat at the cafe. We have packed our first diaper bag.

At the moment the child is asleep next to me in my basement office, lulled to sleep by the dehumidifier.

In house news, nothing much. Grey selected a nice bed for us, which my father and uncle heroically delivered and set up for us this week. It's from Indonesia but we think it looks real nice with our old American house. Now the co-sleeper is a lot easier to use in the middle of the night too.


OK, now we are off to Wholefoods.

all the pictures

I am going to maintain an album of all the baby pictures. Don't worry, nothing graphic!

Peter 2006

Click above to view the album.

the pumpkin outfit

One of the child's grandmothers has remarked on the dearth of recent baby pictures so here I am on the case. Photo credits in all cases go to Richard D'Amato.

Grandpa Nick has been of exceptionally good value lately, taking the kid for many walks in the beautiful autumn weather. In addition to painting the dining room while I was working.


Grey's mom Jill was a lifesaver in the first week after we were home from the hospital. She was a huge help with all the new logistics and provided a lot of moral support to clueless new parents.


Me, I've been faking my way through fatherhood with about as much success as I've been faking it as a high school teacher. In both cases there are plenty of things to enjoy.


G is continuing her recovery. She's having a hard time with a muscle in her leg which is making it tough to get around and even sit comfortably. The doctor promises slow improvement. 

today we are a week old

This one reminds me of one of my favorite Pogues albums.


This expression is a little more ambiguous.


We are having a nice day around the house. I am in my hole making a test for kinematics.

on the road again

And hey, guess what's on the road again? Believe it or not, my life has been so full and so exciting that the rehabilitation of my ultimate dream car has not made it to the headlines.


Thanks to Pete of Midnight Auto the old bomb is back online and breathing fire. Don't look for a link to Pete's website, he operates out of a barn in Sussex County. High tech communications for him is a phone with buttons instead of dial. But he can sure tune an engine.

Also major props to my dad and uncle who made the whole thing possible while I was finding a job, buying a house, rewriting curricula, etc.

The mini is now kitted like a real racecar with an engine that should be a lot more reliable than the one that it came with. I will get the tech specs up at some point, but suffice it to say that it is no longer a fast car. It's a seriously fast car. It's a little monster in fact.

These pics are from a car playdate with my father's 59 Alfa Giulietta.


Here's our backyard from the perspective of the garage doors.


Yes, we are doing what we can for the ecology of the planet. We all know that humans will not address the disasters caused by petroleum abuse until the world has reached a crisis point. We try to help bring that crisis point closer so that we can all get to work.

down in the thinkhole

Most of the pictures from Labor Day will never be seen on the blog of course, but this one is kind of special and perfectly suitable for public appreciation, I think. We weren't planning to document the labor and delivery but our doula brought her camera and snapped some wonderful shots. Ladies, when you visit you can ask G for the whole slideshow. Guys, we can go do something else.


Lots of these pictures will be useful in years to come as behaviour-shaping tools for our precious offspring. "Play quietly or we will show you pictures of your birth!"

Should be loads of fun on prom night when he brings his date around, too.

No seriously, the pictures are wonderful and miraculous but I find them too emotional to look at very often.

It's 8:30am on Saturday morning and I am sitting in my basement office (my thinkhole) with the boy in his car seat at my feet. I turned on the dehumidifer next to him and he is sleeping very peacefully with the hum in the warm basement air.

We all had a rough night last night, not much sleep. G has very kindly been letting me sleep on the couch on school nights, and last night I tried to return the favor and let her get some extra sleep, but the boy had lots of complex needs that we did not understand well. He rarely slept for more than a few minutes at a time. I emptied four diapers and bounced him a lot but still there was not much rest had by anyone.

But I've been down here since 6am and the boy is sleeping sweetly and I hope G is getting some well-deserved z's in the meantime.

Rough week at school. I have turned kinematics into a baffling ordeal for most of my students. But they are all very happy for our new little family, it is very touching. It makes me feel bad when I can't give my students an interesting and well-organized lesson, but I suppose it's an accomplishment if we just get through the day together and make some human connections.

four days old

There are a few updated photos on the online album.

It's 4am and I am going back to work today so I am up to make some lessons. Of course the boy has had me up for a while before this. So far I am coping fine but let's see how things are going around 8th period today.

It's been great to be home with G and the boy and I am sad to be leaving for the day. But G's mom is here so she will be OK and the boy has been a lot happier now that his milk supply has come on for real.

We've been receiving notes and good wishes from everybody. I hope I get a chance to follow up on these renewed contacts since it has made me so happy to hear from folks I was on the verge of losing touch with.

Well, I've got a cup of coffee and the cats are circling around my keyboard. I am ready to start the day's work, better get to it. Thanks for all the nice comments from emailers and visitors to the blog here, it really means a lot to us!

Peter Casmir D'Amato

Peter Casmir D'Amato 10/6/2006

Born by natural delivery 7:30pm on Friday 6 October. 9 pounds 0 ounces, 21.5 inches long. Mom and baby healthy and happy after 22 hours of labor.

Peter Casmir D'Amato

Oct 8, 2006 - 8 Photos