Baby Shower

Paul McCartney and his bride, Heather Mills, were honeymooning Friday in the Seychelles and were believed to be staying on one of the Indian Ocean archipelago's private islands, Fregate Island - coincidentally home to one of the world's rarest beetles. The McCartneys flew down from Belfast on Thursday after their lavish wedding. No one will say for sure on which of the more than a dozen privately owned islands they've beached, but Fregate, the most exclusive one, also hosts the giant tenebroid beetle.

As Kesha Coley and Tanisha Conyers sat in their final session of the Stork's Nest program, they listened to a pediatrician talk about the benefits of breast-feeding. The young women learned that their babies would be able to tell the difference between their milk and formula. "I learned important lessons about how to take care of my baby," said Coley, a Burlington City resident who is due to give birth next week. "I learned about this program from my doctor. " As a part of the program, Coley and Conyers were given a baby shower earlier this month and were able to spend the points they had earned as incentives for their participation on additional baby supplies, such as clothes, diaper bags and bottles.

It was supposed to be a fun summer outing, a pre-college last hurrah, for the 15 friends who packed into three cars and spent Sunday at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. But their ride home ended tragically when one of their vehicles was involved in a crash with a sport-utility vehicle on Roosevelt Boulevard, killing two of the teenagers - aspiring chef Patrice Jackson, 18, and West Philadelphia High sophomore Brandon Ruff, 16. ...

It's the strangest television animal: A life-affirming, one-hour family show that is neither cloying nor idiotic, but actually joyful and funny. There's a new one this fall: CBS's That's Life. It will premiere Sunday at 8 p.m. "Buttafucco Contractors," reads the sign on Lydia DeLucca's boyfriend's truck. "No relation," it says in parentheses underneath. There must be other Buttafuccos, Buttafuocos and Buttafuquos in this world, the producers thought. Like us, some of them probably have a sense of humor.

Carmen Ortiz, 34, said she saw trouble coming last Oct. 2. While driving on G Street near Erie Avenue, Ortiz saw a speeding car "swerving" toward her at about 6 p.m. She reacted by coming to a stop. It didn't do much good. The other driver, Jose Mendoza, 50, was high on marijuana and booze, and apparently tried to make an illegal U-turn when he reached her car, said Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron. As Ortiz sat frozen with fear, Mendoza's car rammed into her door, said Cameron.

Whew! I am exhausted, physically and emotionally, and I will tell you why: I have been helping my wife register for her baby shower. This is a new wrinkle in the field of having babies. When I was born, during the presidency of James K. Polk, we babies did not require a lot of equipment. We had our blanket, and that was pretty much it. We'd lie on our blanket and amuse ourselves for weeks on end by trying to get our feet into our mouths. If we were lucky, we'd have a rattle, which we would obtain by catching an actual rattlesnake with our tiny bare hands.

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today and is expected to be out three to six weeks, ending his streak of 267 consecutive games played for the Dodgers. Dr. Ralph Gambardella examined Karros yesterday and decided on surgery because he suspects cartilage damage. Karros has had persistent pain in his left knee this spring that hasn't responded well to treatment, team physician Frank Jobe said. Karros returned to Los Angeles Friday from the Dodgers' camp in Vero Beach, Fla. Karros, 30, batted .266 with 31 home runs and 104 RBI last year.

CONFIRMS BUZZ ABOUT CAESAREAN-SECTION BIRTH Just for the record, Madonna did end up giving birth by Caesarean section. It had been rumored her plans for a natural childbirth didn't pan out, and now the singer-actress has confirmed it in this week's People magazine. Madonna said she went into labor at 3:30 a.m. and reluctantly agreed to a Caesarean section procedure 12 hours later when the birth had not progressed sufficiently. "Goodbye, everyone," she said as she was wheeled into the delivery room at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles where the baby, Lourdes, was born last Monday at 4:01 p.m. "I'm going to get my nose job now. " SHOWERS OF THE STARS We read in InStyle magazine that some celebrity moms - Melanie Griffith, Katey Sagal, Melissa Gilbert - actually register for baby gifts to take the pressure of finding just the right baby suit off their friends.

Moist air left by Hurricane Fran and the hottest weather since May erupted into thunderstorms yesterday that killed two people in Montgomery County, sent others fleeing flooded homes in a state of emergency and caused massive damage. In Abington Township, where storms dumped at least 5 inches of rain in two hours, two people were found dead around 9:40 p.m. in a flooded basement in the Roslyn section. One died of a heart attack, authorities said. The other drowned. The fierce storms pummelled parts of Northeast Philadelphia with more than 2 inches of rain and drenched the Northern suburbs with more than twice that.

What do you get the Material Girl who has everything? More stuff, of course! Tiny little undershirts, stuffed bunnies, a diaper pail, maybe a stroller. Madonna's buddies threw the expectant mom a baby shower in New York Sunday afternoon. Among the gals in attendance: Comedian-actress Rosie O'Donnell, herself a high-profile new mom, actress Debbie Mazur and Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg. The widening pop star, due in September, has been staying at her Upper West Side home since finishing her role in "Evita" in London and Budapest.