Fatherhood (2)

After almost two years, I had forgotten how tough fatherhood was.

But as I always said: it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it…

Introducing Tommaso

As per Leo, here the first official post on Tommy (or Petit-Tom - pronunciation: ‘petit homme’ - as Mathilde nicknamed him) is.

For the biometrics geeks, Tommy was born 2.9 kg (6.4 lbs) and 50 cm (19.7 inches) tall.

Physically, differently from his brother, he has plenty of dark hair, but - as his brother - has no chin. Other characteristic features include a birthmark on his left eyelid.

As far as his personality is concerned, Tommy seems a big ‘sleepyhead’ (he slept almost 24 hours in a row after birth!), although the nurses told us to have no illusions: we will have our good white nights…

And now let’s start the game of the resemblances: in your opinion, who does Tommy resemble to?

Tommaso’s birth chronicles

Same clinic, same midwife, same gynaecologist (same uniform)… even the receptionist, the clerk at the administration, and the car-park attendant remembered us!

‘How do you do’, ‘How is Leonardo’, ‘Do you remember me’… in a way this delivery resembled more a college reunion than a delivery. But perhaps because of this homely and convivial atmosphere, or perhaps because the second time you can count on much more experience, everything went smoothly - even too fast to really interiorize what was happening.

To the extent that Mathilde concluded the delivery by saying: ‘well, it was not too difficult… perhaps we can consider a third one…’

Tommy, day 1

More pictures and stories in the coming days...

E’ arrivato Tommaso (Tommy for his friends)

E’ arrivato Tommaso, con la primavera. E come la primavera, attesa ed allo stesso tempo inaspettata, irrompe nelle nostre case, cosi Tommaso irrompe nelle nostre vite, sorprendendoci e riempendole…

Pictures soon…

Stork on its way...

A visit from the stork is expected (very) soon.

Keep an eye on the Blog. We’ll send periodic updates…

Colours (2)

Maratona di Roma - from above

Twelve months ago I was finalizing the preparation for my first marathon. If not at the best of my shape, I was certainly in a good shape.

Twelve months after I found myself watching the Rome marathon from my terrace, wishing I could be there and meditating on the physical decline I suffered in the past year instead. And knowing that with two kids the chances that next year it will be better are very very limited…

Which sport Leo will practice...

We said it and we will keep our word: Leo could choose any profession he may like when he will grow up. And, with a bit more reluctance, I accepted the fact that he could support any team he may wish.

But as far as the sport he will practice is concerned, it is decided: Leo will be a rugby player. The only thing he could choose is whether to play for the Italian or the French national team…

Six Nations in Rome

Nowadays watching rugby is trendy and chic. But it’s also fun!

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, in an Olympic stadium overflowing with people, in the middle of thousands of merry Irish, Piergiorgio and I witnessed the triumph of Italrugby over Ireland: first victory ever over Ireland in a Six Nations, second victory and fourth place in this year’ Six Nations (before France!).

And have to confirm it, watching rugby is an experience that brings you back to the essence of sport: Italian and Irish supporters sitting together, everybody silent and standing during the national anthems, lengthy applause for every worthy action - independently whether played by your team or by the opponents, and above all, joyful and peaceful celebrations after the match - in what is commonly known as Troisième mi-temps (Terzo tempo, Third half-time…)

Postcard

Hanoi by night

Saluti & baci. Matteo

Photo pour Macha

Baghera

Cou cou

Explora

A friend of mine made me notice that in Rome it’s very rare to have two days of rain in a row. But in those rare cases in which it rains, you have an 18 month old boy running up and down in your apartment destroying all what he encounters, and you have exhausted all the games, tricks, pastimes you know, what do you do?

A few weeks ago we have discovered this place in Rome - it’s an enormous indoor playground for kids of different ages with plenty of ‘smart’ toys, workshops, and challenging cognitive development games.

Difficult to say who enjoyed more, whether Leo or his dad…

East is always East

This time to Vietnam. See you on Thursday. Hoping Oscar does not play a nasty trick on me, and patiently waits his dad to be back before presenting himself to the world...

Oscar???

Tommaso, Nicolò, Paolo, Lorenzo, Giacomo, Ludovico, Jacopo, Raffaello, Federico, Valentino, Alessio, Mattia, Edoardo, Emanuele, Giulio, Emilio, Elio, Thibault, Timeo, Thimothée, Arthur, Nathan, Lucas, Noah, Yanis, Esteban, Gabriel…

Ne rimarrà soltanto uno! (There can be only one!)

Il bello della Roma-Ostia (2)

La spiaggia dopo la gara... (on the beach after the race...)

Il bello della Roma-Ostia (The nicest part of the Rome-Ostia)

Il pranzo dopo la gara… (the lunch after the race…)

Il viaggiatore perfetto

Leonardino è un leoncino che vive a Nairobi...

Ne è passata d’acqua sotto i ponti da quando Leonardino ha preso il suo primo treno, e i suoi occhioni sorpresi e un po’ smarriti hanno lasciato il posto ad un viaggiatore provetto.

Chiedete ai suoi vicini!

Best buddies - The video

It seems that the link in the previous post does not work properly. Here the video is!

Best buddies

The highlight of the week-end with Elise, Matt and Lucas has certainly been Leo and Lucas playing together.

They have not stopped a second during the entire week-end from running after each other, playing, dancing, and laughing together. It really seemed as if they were two old friends meeting again after long time.

If we could, we would have video-recorded them the entire week-end, so funny they were. Unfortunately we had to be satisfied with this short video only.

And after this week-end, we can’t wait to see Leo and Oscar (or whichever name will be) playing together…

From the heart of Europe to the Eternal City - Les Buckles in Rome

Do you remember how we said goodbye to Elisetta the last time we met, three years ago in Kashmir (“…see you in Geneva, Paris, or who knows?”).

Well, little we knew at that time that the ‘who knows?’ would have been Rome three years later. Over the week-end we in fact received the visit of Elise, Matt, and the little Lucas.

It has been a great week-end, probably the first time in which we felt fully in synchrony with another couple with a child.

So, who knows where we will be meeting next…

(More pictures and stories in the next few days).

15.99 € well spent

Do you remember our recent trip to Ikea?

Never 15.99 € have been better spent…

È intelligente, ma non si applica (He is intelligent, but he does not apply himself)

Today Leo had the first ‘performance evaluation’ of his life - or, in other words, today Mathilde and I had our first formal meeting with Leo’s teachers to discuss how Leo goes at the childcare.

Deeply moved, we were there listening to their feedback. And here it is his ‘performance evaluation’, or, if you wish, his ‘attitudinal profile’...

“Leonardo is a very obedient, sensitive and good-hearted/peaceful child. He is rather independent, and, considering his age, he already talks a lot. However, in some circumstances, he would need to learn to be a bit more patient: he tends in fact to get frustrated if he does not succeed in doing something at the first try. Moreover, sometimes, his good-hearted and peaceful personality turns against him, as his classmates often tease him without him fighting back”.*

Perhaps this was what teachers were saying about baby-Gandhi as well...

(*) Peppa and Antonella

Ikea

Not sure whether this is true or not, but they say that during pregnancy there is a phase in which the mother-to-be feels like ‘nesting’.

You all know I am not a great fan of Ikea week-ends, and although long due, I tried to procrastinate this trip to Ikea for months and months. But in the end the argument used to convince me - the ‘nesting’ phase - was an argument to which I could not rebut. And with bowed head I finally had to go*.

Anyway, the week-end is over, and Leo and Oscar (that's Baby #2 nickname - we haven’t decided his name yet) will have a nice, brand-new bedroom now!

(*) But still have a doubt on whether this story of the nesting phase is an excuse that Mathilde smartly conceived to convince me, or if it is actually true...

Io sono qui

One week to the elections. 

25 questions on various topical and controversial subjects in the Italian politics: from public financing to political parties, to the modalities for acquiring the citizenship’s rights; from conflict of interests, to the ethics of heterologous fecundation; from taxation on financial revenues, to fiscal federalism, etc. To each question you should state your opinion by saying whether you agree (strongly, fully, or moderately) or disagree (strongly, fully, or moderately). 

On the basis of your answers you are placed on a graph that shows which are the parties closest to your political position, and which are the farest. 

Do take the test and check where you are. Io (according to this test) sono qui…

Surprise!

My first surprise party in 39 years has been… a surprise! 

Thanks to all for coming, and to Mathilde for… surprising me…

Happy birthday to me!

This morning, as every morning, I brought Leo to the childcare. I delivered him to Rosy, the teacher, kissed him and wished him a good day.

But then, instead of continuing straight on the Cristoforo Colombo as every morning, I turned left, entered in the A24, towards east, looked with a smile at the long queue that was forming on the opposite lane, and in less than one hour and half I was in Campo Felice, with my new skis on my feet.

Happy birthday to me!

Quel chiacchierone di Leo (Leo, what a great talker!)

It seems yesterday that Leo pronounced his first word (tortue). Three months have passed, and Leo has become a little parrot. 

Here it is some of his repertoire:

-          Tutto (tutto, all)

-          Tchao (ciao, hello)
-          Bye (bye)
-          Mano (mano, hand)
-          Bede (piede, foot)
-          Pane (pane, bread)
-          Ka-ka (acqua, water)
-          Ga-to (gateau, biscuit)
-          Me-la (mela, apple)
-          Pom (pomme, apple)
-          Ba (banana)
-          Latte (latte, milk)
-          Pappa (pappa/ho fame, baby food/I am hungry)
-          Male (male/mi sono fatto male, pain/I hurt myself)
-          Cayu (caillou, pebble)
-          Batta (ciabatta, slipper)
-          Petta (scarpetta, children’ shoe)
-          Buco (buco, hole)
-          Caldo (caldo, warm)
-          Scotta (scotta, it burns)
-          Ca-ia (Claudia)
-          Nonna (either nonna, grandmother, or telephone)
-          Pacha (Macha)
-          Baila (balla, dance)
-          Balla (palla, ball)
-          Zizi (zizi, willy)
-          Giallo (giallo, yellow)
-          Blu (blu, blue)
-          Giù (giù, down)
-          Baccio (in braccio, in your arms)

… and of course: NO, NO, NO!!!

Il mistero del limone sul balcone (The mistery of the lemon on the balcony)

An African proverb says that if you are a date tree, you can't produce walnuts* - meaning you cannot change your nature. But those who said this apparently irrefutable said have probably never experienced what we experienced a couple of weeks ago...

On our terrace we have several plants, including a lemon tree - which, on our own word, produces juicy and tasty lemons. 

Well then, a couple of weeks ago we noticed that the fruits on the tree were too orange to be lemons. We got closer to watch better, and - strangely - they looked more like mandarins than like lemons. We tasted them, and - we could not believe it - they tasted exactly as mandarins. 

We were puzzled. Lemons that look and taste like mandarins.

Inter-pollination? Pollution? Climate change? GMO??? Can anyone help us in solving this mystery???...

(*) The fruits in the proverb may actually have been different, I can't remember - but the concept remains the same.