Not much to tell yet. Suzanne has had morning sickness for a longer time than should be expected, though it seems to be easing up little by little all the time. We felt the first movements a few weeks ago, and Rio claims to have felt it before Suzanne. Suzanne was aware of some sort of movement (even though she could not directly feel it), and she lay down and put Rio’s hand there, and in a moment Rio’s face lit up and he said, "I felt it!" He said it felt like a bump, and he doesn’t lie about such things, so we figure he was right. Suzanne felt it a few days later, and Jerry felt it the following week. Rio is very happy about the upcoming baby, and he is involved with all stages of the pregnancy. (Seeing the baby as something that is happening NOW, rather than as something that will happen in September, really helps to ease the boredom of waiting—Rio is so involved with what is happening in the present that he forgets that it is leading up to something big later!) Jerry & Rio look at a week-by-week pregnancy book every few days to find out what is going on, so at any given time Rio can tell you exactly what parts are developing & growing, and how big the baby is, etc. He accompanies us to the prenatal appointments, and always has some questions for the midwife. In our next newsletter, we hope to be able to tell you the gender of the baby.
New Job Location…After the convenience of living just down the street to the Bed Bath & Beyond where Jerry works, he got transferred to a store on the other side of town! The manager there needed some help, so Jerry is going to work there for a while, and will likely be promoted to District Operations Trainer or Store Manager within the year.
About Rio… Our 3 1/2-year-old Rio is doing wonderfully. He has made some great leaps in his education lately. He has gotten into workbooks in the last month, and has learned a lot with them. After having looked at Preschool-level workbooks, we found them much too easy for him, so we started him out on Kindergarten books, which he does without any trouble. We glanced through a few 1st Grade books, and found them to be within his learning ability as well, but we decided to stick with Kindergarten for the time being. He will probably get into 1st Grade work in a few months. In addition to using the workbooks, he actually makes his OWN learning tools. Suzanne had made some number-recognition cards with a number of stickers, with a few numbers written below, and Rio had to circle the number that corresponded with the number of stickers. Well, after he went through those in ten minutes, he put stickers on some cards himself, wrote several numbers, and circled the correct number! That’s a home-schooled child for you—they are always teaching themselves! He recognizes most one-digit numbers and some two-digit numbers, can write most of them, and can count up to 40 (though he skips 15 for some strange reason!). He knows right from left, which really surprises us, since we never taught him that. Since we have no new pictures of him to include in this issue (the last time we developed film was in November!), we had him write the header of this newsletter. He writes almost all of the letters without any help at all, and there are a few that he needs prompting with. He is really getting into writing letters to people lately, so if you want him to write to you, just send him a short letter and ask him to talk about himself! He is constantly (and we do mean CONSTANTLY) asking questions—about how things grow, how things work, or why things happen—so he learns new things every day. In addition to asking questions, he also seems to have many answers, as you will see by the story below!
Readers’ Profiles
Meet Kim DeFelice
For the very first time, we are profiling someone who neither of us has ever met! Yes, Suzanne got to know Kim on a newsgroup on the Internet, and they have exchanged e-mails and become friends.
Michelle Kim DeFelice, age 31, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and now lives in Rye, New Hampshire. She is a "Domestic Goddess," married to Chuck, with three healthy boys, Taylor, Cameron, and Colby. She is very happy about being able to be a caring stay-at-home mom. Nursing her youngest (Colby is 15 moths old) is one of her greatest joys, especially since he will sadly be her last baby. She makes sure her boys are truly loved, and she hopes for that kind of love in her life in return.
Kim describes herself as energetic and fun—she likes horseback riding, walking, dancing, and shopping. She has an Associates Degree in Travel and Tourism which she received in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and hopes to go back to school some day, though she is unhappy about the public schools that children have to attend these days (she likes the idea of home schooling). She says, "Live each day as if it were your last and always keep a smile!"
Kim is active on some child-centered newsgroups (online message boards), encouraging women who are having difficulty breastfeeding, and she says, "I hope to eventually become as well spoken as Suzanne!!!" (Thank you, Kim!)
Meet Jim Bettonville
(Sort of…)
[NOTE: Suzanne’s dad sent her this as a joke, and she threatened to put it in the newsletter, so here it is!]
Jim was born at a very early age. He was the proud son of Sudanese parents who were hoping for a camel. His parents were in the iron and steal business. His mother would iron and his father would steal. When he was five years old his mother said, "Jimmy. I don't -a have-a much-a time-a left. I wanna' you make-a somethin' out-a you self-a." He said, "Ma. How can you talk like that? You're not even Italian." He is very musical. When he was seven his mom gave him a drum and told him to beat it. She said, "You're old enough to take your guitar down to the low-dives, the bars, and the gin mills and bring home a little money. Besides which, you'll get to know your father a little bit better."
His first job was a government sponsored rural electrification project on the Cahokian Indian Reservation. His first assignment was to run electrical power to the out-houses. You might say he was one of the first people to wire a Head for a Reservation.
Jim met his wife on an elevator in Chicago in 1968 and it's been up and down ever since. They have five children, a dog, and bad credit.
Jim has lived in Collinsville, IL, Chicago, IL, Park Forest, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Culver City, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Canoga Park, CA, Collinsville, IL, Ojai, CA, Merlin, OR, Selma, OR, Caseyville, IL, and Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. If he doesn't make the rent this month, you can reach him at the homeless shelter in Santa Monica.
Jim is into playing guitar, fishing, and makes his living from Short-term Equine Investments.
[NOTE: The last three paragraphs are actually true!]
Daddy Doesn’t Need to Work
Rio decided that Daddy should stay home from work from now on. We asked him some logical questions:
è
How will we buy food?
We can use coupons.
è
Where can we have the baby if we don’t have money to go to the hospital? We can have the baby outside like animals do.
è
How will we pay for our house? We can take the money—not the round money, but the square money—from my bank.
è
How will we get clothes for you? You can cut down some of your clothes and sew them into clothes for me. When I get big, I can wear Daddy’s clothes.
è
How will we buy diapers for the baby? We can use the diapers on my changing table [left over from Rio’s diaper days]. When we run out, I can teach the baby how to go on the little potty.
è
How will we go to the symphony? We can listen to symphony music on the radio.
è
What about toys? I have too many toys already.
How can we argue such logic??
E-mail us!
[email protected]
Next Issue
Previous Issue
Home
