Mario Shebib's Home Page

Stories, Useful information, and lots of Fun! Updated: February 2004 -- visited

times.
New! My attempt at a frames version of this page ...here.

New stories	My baby brother!	Newest Photos	Archive -Old Photos	Mario in Italy	Fairy Tales	My favourite photo
Mario's Old wish list	Dad's Photo page	Heinz - baby food	RESP - saving for education costs	Ethical investments

March 1, 2004
Well not much has happened since I last updated this page : ) Mario just turned 6 and in the last month has lost two teeth. Big deal for Mario. Actually, he really did lose them - we were never able to find them. A big mystery. Anyway, in order to provide evidence to the tooth fairy, I had to take a picture of the missing space where said tooth once resided. Here is the evidence that the tooth fairy accepted (missing one tooth in first photo, missing two in second):

February 29, 2004
Mario celebrated his 6th birthday (February 25th). Lots of family and friends showed up and Mario got way too may presents!
*** CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE IT BIGGER ***

May 22, 2001
2 new photos of Mario. First one, Mario was sick for a week, lost a few pounds, and realized he could no longer walk. He decided to carry his blanket and pillow everywhere, lie on the floor, and vomit whenever. A few weeks earlier, Mario was his regular self -- in his knight outfit. STAND BACK!

February 26, 2001
Mario had his Blue's Clues birthday party yesterday. Photos to come soon. Mario is having some fun learning to skate on saturday mornings. Mario is still big on reading books, watching Franklin on video and playing with this Buzz lightyear toys.

June 21, 2000
Mario's favourite show, Thomas the Tank Engine, is releasing a full length movie! Thomas and the Magic Railway - this site has the movie trailer, photos, games and even a e-postcard feature. Mario is hoping to add some more Thomas the Trank Engine content shortly! Thomas has his own web site at Thomas the Tank Engine. And there are lots of fan sites for Thomas, Mario likes Oliver's which is Oliver's site here.

June 20, 2000
The Dangers of Using Seat Belts for Young Children
Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death and disability for children over the age of 1 year in the United States. To protect children in crashes, safety advocates recommend using restraints such as infant and convertible child safety seats for children under the age of 4 years and booster seats for children between 4 and 9 years of age. However, many parents ignore these recommendations and restrain their children with seat belts that do not fit properly. A study conducted at the Children�s Hospital of Philadelphia investigated the nature and risk of significant injury for 2- to 5-year-old children who were restrained by seat belts. Data were gathered from Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a crash surveillance system, and based on a representative sample of children from birth to 15 years of age. All children were in crashes involving 1990 and newer vehicles reported to State Farm Insurance companies in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Driver reports of crash circumstances were collected to determine the seating position in the vehicle, whether a restraint was used, and if so, what type was used for each child in the vehicle. Questions regarding injuries were classified by body region and severity. The findings of this study indicate that even though restraints were used 98% of the time for children from 2 to 5 years of age, more than one third of children in this age range were protected by seat belts only. This inappropriate use of seat belts resulted was associated with a 3.5-fold increase in the risk of significant injury overall, and a more than 4-fold increase in the risk of head injury. What This Means to You: Although it may take a few extra moments to place your child in a booster seat, this study shows that your child is at risk for serious injury � abdominal, spinal cord, and brain injuries, or even death � if a seat belt is the only restraint used before the age of about 9 years. In a younger child, the lap portion of the seat belt may ride up the abdomen, the shoulder portion may cross the neck or face, or the child may slip out of the seat belt entirely during a crash. Source: PEDIATRICS, June 2000

June 15, 2000
Mario had his photo taken last night at Sears. We had some proofs taken so I will post them tomorrow after I scan the photos. Mario is doing well, but has had a cough/cold for the last 2 months (it seems). A couple of doctors have checked and he seems fine. Mario's language skills are developing well. He likes to read along with us at night, especially when reading "Are you my mother?". My favourite thing about Mario right now is how involved/specific he likes to be in things. He likes sports balls (soccor, baseball and football) and he likes sports based clothes. He chooses his shirts and pants, and gets quite mad if the clothes he wants are not available.

June 14, 2000
Antibiotics Not Helpful for Most Respiratory Tract Infections in Children Due to misinformation, socioeconomic forces, and other factors, antibiotic treatment of usually virus-caused respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children continues to be a common practice. This is despite evidence that such treatment is not beneficial and that harmful consequences may result in some cases. Additional support for withholding antibiotic treatment in the majority of these cases comes from a recent study performed by the Elmwood Pediatric Group and the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. Researchers studied 383 children who had RTIs during a 12-month period from 1996 to 1997. Of the children, 77% did not receive antibiotics at the enrollment visit, whereas 23% received antibiotics based on a diagnosis of acute otitis media, acute streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis, or other presumed or documented bacterial infections. An unscheduled return visit related to the initial visit occurred for 29% of the children not receiving antibiotics initially and in 44% of the children receiving antibiotics initially. The researchers concluded that most RTIs in children have a viral cause and resolve on their own. If not treated with antibiotics, these children seem to be no more likely to develop problems over the subsequent month than children treated with antibiotics for presumed or proven bacterial infections. What This Means to You: Much attention has been paid to the overuse of antibiotics, which may lead to unnecessary side effects from treatment, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" as public health problems. Although most doctors are sensitive to these issues, some may prescribe antibiotics out of concern that parents will be dissatisfied or because misinformed child care center policies sometimes may not permit the child�s return to the facility without an antibiotic prescription. If your child develops an RTI, speak to your child�s doctor about its cause and whether antibiotic treatment is necessary. Source: PEDIATRICS, April 2000

June 7, 2000
Mario is speaking alot more. He enjoys reading - morning and evening. He likes to play soccor. He likes to call his cousin Gerald in Toronto and say "hi G".

June 6, 2000
Bicycle-towed Trailers and Injuries Bicycle-towed trailers allow young children to accompany adults on bicycle rides, and current sales are estimated at 75,000 trailers per year. Although these trailers and bicycle-mounted child seats put the child close to the adult, there are still injury considerations, according to a study from the Children�s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and the Northwestern University Medical School. Researchers looked at data on child injuries associated with bicycle-towed trailers and bicycle-mounted child seats from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for 1990 to 1998. The head or face was the most common site of injury. When compared with bicycle-mounted child seats, there were fewer reported injuries to children associated with the use of bicycle-towed trailers. The statistics for motor vehicle involvement in the accident and the need for hospital admission of the injured child were similar among children in both groups. What This Means to You: Although bicycle-towed trailers appear to be somewhat safer than bicycle-mounted child seats, children riding in either device still risk injury, particularly to the head or face. Helmets should be worn at all times by children riding on or being towed by a bicycle.

April 27, 2000
Booster seats are designed for children who are too big for infant seats, and too small for adult seat-belts to fit comfortably. Sonya Korkum of Safe Kids Canada says children should be in booster seats from about ages four to eight. Still, many parents choose not to use the seats. "We know that from studies that we've done at Safe Kids Canada that only 56 per cent of families report that they use booster seats," said Korkum. She says those low statistics can be traced to a lack of awareness of the importance of booster seats, and provincial legislation that only requires children aged five and under to use the seats. "This is the forgotten group," said Korkum. "We know from many studies that children are moved out of car seats far too soon." Korum says children should be in booster seats until they're tall enough to bend their knees when seated in a car.

February 23, 2000
My mother is 13 weeks pregnant.

January 12, 2000
Everything is going fine. Mario is still waking up occasionally but his health is much better.

January 2, 2000
Mario went out for coffee. Here he is with Emily. Birthday

January 1, 2000
We had a rocking new years eve here in Ottawa. Lots of fun with our friends! Birthday

December 28, 1999
We've all had the flu and been very sick during the last week. Bah Humbug. Birthday

Mario had his hair cut today!

December 15, 1999
Mario went for his first swim in a big pool this weekend. We spent half an hour walking around the edge of the pool before going in. Once in --- he loved it! Cried when we had to leave after spendind about half an hour in the *very* warm water. : )

December 5, 1999
We visited Grandma and everyone in Toronto. Uncle Derrick has a cool digital tv dish. My fav song is teddy bear picnic so dad added it to my site! We went to parliament hill tonight to see the xmas lights! WOW!!

November 15, 1999
Added a movie of Mario. Fast Connection? Check out a movie of Mario waving HI!

November 12, 1999
Mario has recovered from the stomach infection but still has a runny nose. As a result, he's having problems sleeping.

October 28, 1999
Seems we're lucky if we find one time a month to update sight now. Mario has major health issue, see Rotavirus Diarrhea in the Child Care Setting == CDC health site and he gave it to me. Great! Otherwise, new day care is going pretty good.

September 28, 1999
Mario has had a bad cough for a few weeks. We took him to the Doctor and got a prescription. He seems to be feeling better and his apetite is coming back. Mario has started a new day care, called Variety Child Care.

September 13, 1999
This weekend we went to Nickel's Restaurant on Saturday morning, East Side Mario's for supper and then went to check out the ducks, and on Sunday we visited the Experimental Farm, hung out at the local play ground and then went to Britania Beach to check out the new play structure and see the sun set. Mario got a new "picnic table" made by Little Tikes that he uses to draw on. He keeps his crayons in the trunk of one of his riding cars, and likes to draw on clean paper. He likes us to draw happy faces and other objects and then talk about them.

September 8, 1999
Last night we went out to Bayshore to shop. We spent most of the time looking around Eaton's and bought Mario some clothes and more socks. His size 8 feet make it a challenge to find socks with pads so that he doesn't slip while running through the house.

September 7, 1999
We had a very nice long weekend. Saturday Aunt's Teresa, Heather and Uncle Barry came to visit. We had lots of fun playing and eating. Sunday we hanged out a the park and went for tea at Mackenzie King Estate and we walked around the beautiful gardens. On Monday, it was raining so we visited the Museum of Nature and hung out at the play ground.

September 2, 1999
Mario had his year and a half booster shot on Monday. He had a bruise on his arm and has been sick since then. He was sleeping well, but all this week has been waking up 4 or 5 times. He hasn't been eating much. Hopefully he'll get better this weekend.

August 1999
Hot summer in Ottawa. We had a week off during which Nona visited and we spent alot of time visiting parks, parades and museums. Mario is walking and running alot. Pointing at things saying "this?" and "that?". We can occasionally make out words and short sentences, but he doesn't speak very often. Dinner continues to be an adventure - trying to get him into his chair. Mario still doesn't like breakfast, preferring to cuddle and walk around inspecting the house, he eats a big lunch and dinner, but seems to prefer having his first big meal around 9 a.m. rather than at 7 a.m. when we get him up. We have learned alot about parenthood. Right now, our biggest challenge seems to be ensuring that "no means no" and that we don't give into his "temper tantrums" (although everyone tells us we haven't seen anything yet). We tell Mario that acting up and screaming won't get him anything.

July 27, 1999
Dad has been busy at work. Nothing new on the site. Dad is thinking about fixing site up. The big "reorganization" is coming.

June 25, 1999
Computer is back working. Been copying video files. Too big to transfer at home. Will drop by work this weekend and upload the movie files and scan some photos.

June 11, 1999
Dad messed up his computer while trying to install a video capture/tv card. It will be in the repair shop for awhile. It has been hot and humid here in Ottawa. Dad hasn't scanned any pictures or done much on this page for awhile, may be time for a weekend visit to the scanner.

May 18, 1999
Flew to Toronto two weekends ago. Flight was much better than driving. Mario still likes to flirt with every woman on the plane.

May 10, 1999
Time for a new link, here is some disney lyrics."
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