Model Posts Pics of Daughter Wearing Makeup Online
Celeb Kids, Celeb Parenting, Behaving Badly, In The News
A British celebrity mom is in hot water with her ex-husband for posting photos of their 2-year-old daughter in full makeup online.
Katie Price, a 31-year-old model and former Page 3 Girl, took photos of her daughter, Princess Tiaamii, wearing a large quantity of makeup and what London's Daily Mail says are Price's false eyelashes. Princess Tiaamii's father, English singer and songwriter Peter Andre, became furious when he saw the photos on his former sister-in-law's Facebook page.
The couple also have a son, Junior Savva Andreas Andre, who was born before they were married in 2005. The couple divorced in 2009.
A spokesperson for Peter Andre tells the Daily Mail that "Peter totally disagrees" with putting makeup on the children, taking their pictures and posting them on the Internet.
Bacon Or No Bacon? Pregnant Women Get Different Diet Advice
Newborns, Pregnancy & Birth, Eating & Nutrition, Medical Conditions, Development, In The News
If you're pregnant, feel free to eat to lots of bacon and eggs. They're good for you. Plus, they'll help your baby's mental development.
Just stay away from foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat. Like bacon and eggs.
They can put your baby at risk of Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, stroke, heart problems and a veritable Pandora's box of other medical conditions.
That's the slightly mixed message from the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
The latest issue includes an article warning expectant mothers to watch their weight and avoid high-fat diets. Researchers from Duke University fattened up pregnant rats with such diets and found the baby rats had high amounts of dangerous substances known as cytokines.
That's bad.
Book Review: Lawn to Lawn
Kids 5-7, Fun & Activities, That's Entertainment, Books
Kitsch comes to life for a rousing adventure in Lawn to Lawn. Credit: Random House.
Lawn to Lawn by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf, $18)
If toys have a life of their own whenever the unbelieving eyes of humans aren't upon them -- a fact I believe all consumers of children's media have absorbed by this point -- then why not lawn ornaments? Author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino, whose signature shading technique gives all of his figures a delightfully round, three-dimensional look, saw the unmined possibilities in the secret lives of outdoor statuary and cooked up an adventure with so much entertaining action on each page that it almost begs to be stretched out into a novel.
In a plot reminiscent of The Brave Little Toaster, a quartet of lawn ornaments (a gnome, jockey, deer and pink flamingo) that are left behind after their owners move away, set out on a cross-country trek the reunite with the child that used to play with them. There's an inherent humor in these icons of tackiness being played up as heroes, but the fun of Lawn to Lawn goes far beyond that initial irony. On the course of their journey, the yard ornaments meet up with a band of other lawn gnomes, get directions from a scarecrow, seek shelter with a fast food restaurant mascot, get chased by angry stone gargoyles, and mistaken for trash by industrious sanitation workers.
I will be very surprised if we don't see this likable foursome show up in a Lawn to Lawn sequel. And when we do, it will be the rare kind of picture book sequel that I am eager to dive into.
Related: Book Review: Red Ted and the Lost Things
What Will Barbie's New Career Be?
Barbie is about to get a new j-o-b. Credit: Mattel
If you thought all Barbie did was tool around Malibu in her pink Corvette and lament that "Math class is tough!," well, you've got this iconic blonde all wrong.
In fact, Ms. Barbie turned 50 last year, and girlfriend has been busy.
She has been a pilot, a rock star, an aeorbics instructor and a CEO. Oh, and she was also an astronaut who landed on the moon four years before Neil Armstrong did.
Now she's about to embark on her 125th career. (Averaging 2.5 careers per year, she's ambitious, if not ready to commit.) Fans voted on the Barbie Web site and chose among the five career finalists: architect, computer engineer, environmentalist, news anchor and surgeon. The winning career will be announced at the New York Toy Fair on February 12.
Boo Boo Crew
Cutest first aid kit ever. Credit: Kabalab
You know that plastic baggie of Band-Aids and Neosporin that's gathering cheerio dust at the bottom of your diaper bag? It's days are numbered. This iPhone-sized I'M OK! carrying case contains just what you need to tend to boo boos at the playground (bandages and antiseptic pads) and just what you need to feel safe when the kids are out with someone else (a card with important emergency information).
Available for $12 at kabaproducts.com
Researchers Discover Stuttering Genes
Discovery of the stuttering genes comes many years too late for Moses. Credit: Lord Jim, Flickr
A newly released study "has identified three genes as a source of stuttering," according to a press release from the NIDCD, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The study was conducted using volunteers from Pakistan, England and the United States. The researchers think approximately 9 percent of stutterers "possess mutations in one of the three genes" identified. They plan to continue to look at the possible causes for stutterers around the world.
Celeb Clan Close-Up: John Travolta and Family in NYC
Celeb Kids, Fashion & Clothing
John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella Bleu Travolta on February 3, 2010 in New York City. Credit: Arnaldo Magnani, Getty Images
Pulp fashion: Mega star John Travolta steps out in front of New York's Plaza Hotel with his beautiful wife, Kelly Preston, and daughter Ella Bleu Travolta on Feb. 3.
We like how Preston makes camel chic -- her jacket, scarf, slacks and boots may all be neutrals, but they don't fade into the background. She gets bonus points for the fun purple handbag.
Meanwhile, Ella, 9, just looks like your typical all-American girl: jeans, plaid jacket, knit cap, T-shirt and slip-on Converse All Stars.
And Travolta looks every bit the doting dad and husband ready for some casual family fun in jeans and a black jacket, shirt, scarf, boots and baseball cap.
Danny Zuko would totally dig the black. Let's just hope Travolta isn't wearing white socks.
Related: Travolta Brings Food, Aid and Scientology to Haiti
Nielsen: Teens Sends an Average of 10 Text Messages Per Hour
Teens & tweens, In The News, Gadgets & Tech
Texting is cheaper than ever before. Credit: maxually, Flickr
Researchers for the Nielsen Company learned of the stat after looking at more than 40,000 monthly mobile bills. Nielsen is the same New York marketing and advertising research company that provides ratings for television shows.
Turning their attention to cell phones, researchers also discovered tweens send an average of four text messages per hour.
Roger Entner, senior vice president of Research and Insights, discussed the revelations in a blog Jan. 26 on the company's Web site.
Is the Name Win Too Much Pressure?
I'm in love with the name Win for my daughter. However, I'm slightly worried that people would think I am being "competitive" or that she is expected to be so. The problem is that I fell in love with this spelling and am not open to the Welsh version Wynne, etc. I would probably tell people it is a diminutive of Winifred, but I am definitely not naming her that either. Do you have any suggestions?
- Non-Competitive Mom
So you want to name your daughter a common English word, but you don't want people to think of that word when they see her name. At first glance, that may seem a little backwards. Most parents choose word names because of their meanings, not despite them. You'd hardly name your daughter Angel thinking, "I hope nobody thinks of angels!"
School Secretary Says She Was Fired for Speaking Spanish
In The News, Education, Extreme Childhood
A school employee in North Carolina claims she was fired because she continued to speak Spanish to Latino parents after a school administrator banned her from doing so.
Ana Ligia Mateo was hired as a bilingual secretary at Devonshire Elementary in 2006, according to the Charlotte Observer, but lost her job two years later when principal Suzanne Gimenez allegedly told staff members "she would no longer allow Spanish to be spoken to parents by any of the faculty or staff."
Mateo is suing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools because she claims she was forced out when she continued to speak Spanish to parents who could not understand English, the Observer reports.The suit alleges that she was told repeatedly to stop and was dismissed in September 2008. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in June that there is "reasonable cause" to believe the district violated her civil rights.
