[blparent] Family News

[Melissa Ann Riccobono]

Hello everyone,

I have definitely written to this list in order to respond to messages, but
I wanted to take a couple of minutes to give everyone the news from our
family.

Austin turned five in December.  He is very energetic and has a good
imagination.  He loves the Disney Cars movies and toy vehicles, building
things with Legos, designing tracks for marbles using Marble Works from
Discovery Toys, and coloring and doing art projects.  He is in a fantastic
in home day care, which is run much more like a preschool, and he is all
ready reading, writing, and doing math.  We are in the process of looking at
schools for him-unfortunately, this is not always the easiest task in
Baltimore which is not known for a steller education system.  Luckily there
seem to be a lot of very good charter school options, so we will be making
the rounds to different open houses, filling out applications, and hoping
for the best.  We cannot believe he will be in kindergarten this fall!

                Oriana turned 1 in May.  Elmo has become a huge favorite
lately.  She also likes books and being read to, playing with her dolls and
new doll stroller, and music and dancing.  Of course she adores her big
brother and wants to do everything he is doing.  Austin loves Oriana a lot,
and, for the most part, enjoys playing with her and teaching her things.  We
hope this close relationship will last!

                And.  We just returned from an ultrasound.  We are expecting
our third baby around June 7.  Everything looks fine, so far, and we are all
excited about welcoming a new member to our family.  Austin especially
enjoyed watching the baby on the screen, listening to the heart beat, and
talking to the baby.  He also asked the tech a lot of questions, which I
love to see him do.  The tech actually didn't seem to mind either.  We're a
little worried since Oriana and this baby will be so close in age.  And
since we'll have three kids instead of two.  Any advice from parents
experienced with either of these situations would be appreciated!  We are
sure though, that once we actually start getting into a routine we will make
everything work.

                Just wanted to share our family news, and I'll certainly let
the list know when the baby is born.  Oh, we are old fashion and want the
sex of the baby to be a surprise.

Take care,

Melissa