The greatest micracle of all...

[Heinz]

My son Valentin was born last monday. I still can't believe it. He's turning our life upside down and we can't stop marveling at him.
Holding your new born baby is a true miracle. I'm looking forward to see what the future will bring (even though it will bring less time for amp building).

Riding on a wave of joy my heart goes out to those who lament loved ones.

[bigsbybender]

Wunderbar! Das Freut mich!

[bnwitt]

You ain't seen nothin' yet.  Wait until he's about 5.  That is a precious time.  Enjoy every moment.  Before you know it they're gone.  Every interaction between you and he leaves an impression on both of you.  His impressions will be deeper.  You have a piece of clay to mold.  Be very careful with it.  It's like C4 out the other end The greatest sense of accomplishment is when a child becomes and adult and does well.  The greatest disapointment is when they stay in your basement.  It's nature and nurture so you only get some control over one and not the other.  Hang in there.  Oh and my advice is "No video games ever"  Bad bad for the concentration.

[Frankenamp]

Congratulations!
+1 on no video games

Read to him every day. Harry Potter, Goosebumps, Wizard of Oz series, RAH Boy's Life stories- Red Planet & Have Space Suit... At first it's the sound of your voice, then it's all about imagination and theater of the mind, then reasoning skills.

[tubenit]

Heinz,

Congrats!!!   Enjoy your son and all the giftedness and creativity he has been given. I think you'll be a GREAT dad!

Best regards, Tubenit (Jeff)

[Dynaflow]

 Congrats, thats the best. I got to be a grand-dad after having no kids of my own, in the last year. My middle step son graced us with Cayden and my life and heart has never been the same since. He's got another on the way shortly as does the oldest step son so we've got a plethora of grandkids coming along, as bad as the last year has been for us financially these grand kids and the families love is about the only thing that keeps me from forgetting how much medication I'm taking. Enjoy Heinz, its the most precess gift one can receive.

Kindest Regards,

Dyna

[PRR]

We need a reading-list for young boys, so they grow up as warped as we did.

I'm sure there are sites with lists of "current" books. But we still listen to Bach and Ellington and Morrison, and there are books which I believe are worthy of a child's attention in 2010-2015. Some have been re-issued; some of the new-series are "updated" into junk. Mostly these books are available pre-enjoyed, in yard-sales or at ABE.com and mostly affordable.

Go, Dog. Go! "is a classic children's book written by P. D. Eastman" Very 1960s, superficially very "easy", and subtle on multiple levels. Beats heck out of Dick And Jane.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, 1939 (ISBN 0-590-75803-9)


Speaking of which: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, also The Cat In The Hat Comes Back, Dr. Seuss

The Tower Treasure, Hunting For Hidden Gold, etc from the original The Hardy Boys series; NOT the 1963 re-writes.

The Case of the Roving Rolls A Brains Benton Mystery by George Wyatt

The pre-1969 Tom Swift Jr have not really gone out of style. Also look for Rick Brant. Some of the 1950s Brants are just potboilers with old racial attitudes, but the 1960s ones are superb ("The Flying Stingaree"). These can be spiced with the Jonny Quest cartoons. Nancy Drew are also mostly good reads.

[rafe]

movies...plan 9 from outer space, them, etc.

[Frankenamp]

<forehead thwap> Just about anything from Theodor Geisel

Here is a good start: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/
just substitute 'OBL' fer Hitler, and Al Quaeda fer Germany, Italy, or Japan and it suddenly becomes immediatly relevent.

Ray Bradbury did some kids books, (I thought he wrote some of the Encyclopedia Brown books , but I was wrong) and no education is complete without Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books- one of the best first-person narratives of what the pioneering spirit is all about ...

[CraigB]

Heinz, thanks for sharing the arrival of your son!  Craig

[RicharD]

Congrats!

Babies change everything for the better.  No clue where I'd be w/o my daughters.

I adore all the book selections PRR listed.  At one point, I had read Seuss so often to my children, I could recite a couple of the books.

[zendragon63]

Heinz, congratulations and best wishes to you and your bride. You will be enjoying the best that the cycle of life has to offer. Even when he hits you up for the car keys.    Regards

dennis

[TubeGeek]

Congrats!

[madison]

Congrats!
Being a Dad has a lot of rewards though it is hard work.
As a friend told me "welcome to the world of no extra time"

My Son is now 3 and daughter is 1.
They are a blast;they start romping around the house and I can't resist, I have to join in the fun.

Have a great time.

[OldHouseScott]

Congratulations, Heinz, life will never be the same (in a good way!)

Let me add a few names to the book list. Inga Moore wrote "O Little Jack" and "Six Dinner Sid". Beautiful illustrations and very fun to read to them when they are a few years old. Also, Margaret Wise Brown wrote "Goodnight, Moon", "Runaway Bunny", "Big Red Barn", and the classic "Little Fur Family". All highly recommended.

[Ritchie200]

Wow!  Thanks for sharing your gift with us!  A new adventure has begun for you and your wife - enjoy every minute of it!

+1 on the pre 1969 Tom Swift, priceless!

Jim

[CraigB]

No children's book collection would be complete without Robert McCloskey's "Burt Dow, Deep Water-man".

[OldHouseScott]

McCloskey is great. Also check out "Blueberries for Sal" and "Make Way for Ducklings" by him.

[Rick_Davey]

Congratulations.  Your life has changed forever.

May I suggest that you take a lot of photographs?  It may seem that time crawls by and change comes slowly now, but in retrospect it will seem that it all went by very quickly.