About Rio… Rio likes to "school" himself with materials we have on hand for that purpose. He often writes random letters on paper, and tries to read the words that he writes. (Neither of his parents really taught him how to write—he picked most of that up just by observation.) He continues to be interested in geography, and can identify most of the states just by looking at their shapes.
Rio has been to a couple of Symphony concerts in the last two months. As reported in the last newsletter, he won two tickets to a Christmas concert. He recognized some of the songs, and he enjoyed meeting the Symphony mascot, Seymour the Seagull, in the lobby before the show. In January, we went to hear Stravinsky’s "Firebird," which is Rio’s favorite. He often sings along to it, and he knows the story, so when he listens to it, he dresses up in costumes and plays all the parts. The concert we went to had the story played out by giant shadow puppets. We had never seen anything like that before, and Rio was just enthralled by it.
Rio looking un-amused Rio’s Antics Ô
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One day we ordered pizza. Mum asked Rio if he wanted a pizza with veggies, and he said, "No, I would like some yucky poison, please!"Ô
Rio seems to have a good ear for music. One of his favorite classical works is Prokofiev’s "Peter and the Wolf." One day, while listening to the radio, another work by Prokofiev came on, which he had never heard before. He listened for a minute, and then said, "Hey, that kind of sounds like ‘Peter and the Wolf’!"Ô
In teaching Rio the sounds, we decided to say "ee" for "Y", since it technically DOES make that sound ("ee-ess" for "yes," and "ee-oo" for "you," etc.). He has some foam letters, which he likes to line up and read. One day, he said, "Look, I made RIO." Spelling it phonetically, he laid it out as "RYO."
Reader Profile
Motherhood is Carol’s main interest at this point. Her long-range plan is to home-school Emily, with a short-term plan of making sure she is a happy and healthy baby. Carol is proud to be a nursing mom, supplementing with organic fruits, vegetables, and grains. Disliking social injustice and seeing people treat their children poorly, she hopes to raise Emily to be a resourceful, independent and caring person.
In addition to parenthood, Carol is also a part-time historian. She wrote her master’s thesis on the history of the religious anti-slavery movement in Illinois from 1830 to 1840, and would like to expand on this and get it published soon. She was recently asked to speak of the anti-slavery movement at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, and met face-to-face with one of her idols, Sally Roesch-Wagner, a women’s rights historian who worked with Carol on her thesis via e-mail. Carol also plans to research and write on the world history of childrearing practices, pre-history to present.
Carol describes herself as hard-working, thoughtful, and caring, and is happiest being a mom and wife, and "baking chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake for people that love them!" In addition to baking, she also likes other types of cooking, plus reading, and walking.
Carol says, "Happiness is created within." Caring for her happy, smiley baby, and researching and writing on topics that interest her, she has created that very happiness for herself.
Interview with Rio Dallapè, age 3
WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME?
I can’t say it right now, ‘cause I don’t like saying it.
WHAT ACTIVITIES DO YOU LIKE?
Counting. Puzzles. Being different people. Acting like all of the STAR WARS people, and the "Firebird" people.
WHAT SHOWS DO YOU LIKE TO WATCH?
Thomas. The Spider Video and "Zoboomafoo" and "Barney." I even like "Peter and the Wolf."
WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO?
Different music like "The Firebird." "Fascination" and "Mickey." Lindy hop music [The Boston Pops’ "Runnin’ Wild."] They’re good to dance to and to conduct.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FOODS?
Ice cream and cereal and ravioli. I wipe my mouth after ravioli and the sauce ‘cause the sauce is so messy.
WHAT TOYS DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH?
A lot of toys. Zoboomafoo [a toy lemur given to him by Robin & Shae]. None others.
WHAT DOES A THREE-YEAR-OLD BOY LIKE TO DO WITH HIS LIFE?
Go to the symphony. Seeing Keith [Lockhart]. Playing MouseTrap. Making silly faces. Buying clown red noses.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HAVING A NEW BABY?
I feel like the baby will be a boy. We readed about the baby. The baby has four chambers now, in its body [four chambers of the heart], and the liver. I feel like the midwife is bad. ‘Cause I wanted to hear Mummy’s heartbeat. I listened to Daddy’s heartbeat. His heart sounded like his heart saying "peanut butter."
WHAT MAKES YOU SAD?
Sad books. Bad faces and good faces. [Here Rio is referring to a book called Glad Monster Sad Monster.] Floating away without you.
WHAT MAKES YOU LOVING AND HAPPY?
Dancing and listening to music. Happy people. Playing with my baby.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
At Fjord Circle. Far away from India. In Utah.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
A lot of people. An actor playing Darth Vader. A conductor. An instrument person. I would like to play violin. And I have all the other instruments. I want to be a snowman when I grow up. I’d like to be a bad snowmonster and a good snowmonster. They sit there all day and they just made out of snow.
THE END
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