Babycenter has released their list of the 100 most popular girls' names for new babies, as well as the top 100 boys' names. The top ten are:
Girls' Names
Boys' Names
1
Sophia
Aiden
2
Isabella
Jacob
3
Olivia
Jackson
4
Emma
Ethan
5
Chloe
Jayden
6
Ava
Noah
7
Lily
Logan
8
Madison
Caden
9
Addison
Lucas
10
Abigail
Liam
The most popular names this years are not particularly new. I think there are students with each name on the top ten in my kids' middle school classes. http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2010 -via Fark
Here's a sled your kids can use whether there is snow and ice out or not! The secret is that the sled itself has ice on the bottom. There are two ice molds that you fill with water and set in your freezer. When the ice is solid, attach the molds to the underside of the sled. Clever! Of course, a parent should determine where this will be used. Link
This infant must have some kind of rubber bands or gears inside! Push one arm down, the other goes up. At least he/she is sleeping soundly. -via Arbroath
Neatoramanaut pnutandsamsmom, who is also Michelle McCrary, the author of Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology, posted this video of her twin girl cousins giggling at the antics of their sister. You can't watch this without smiling yourself! -Thanks, Michelle!
Photographer Phillip Toledano (featured previously) speaks honestly about his new baby girl and the feelings he had as a new father. It was a rough start, as many fathers know.
Some men deal with their baby rage by drinking or playing video games.
I made plates.
I thought it was high comedy, but Carla was not so amused.
For the longest time, when people asked me to see a photo of Loulou, this is what I'd show them.
I liked not showing the usual cherubic photo. An adorable shot of Loulou poking her head out of a casserole pot, or something similarly bilious.
Does ever baby picture have to be sweet and beautiful?
Things changed as time progressed. Enjoy this photo essay by clicking the pictures or text to advance. Link -via Metafilter
Looking for a cheap way to keep your kids busy, happy, and productive? Think about investing a few dollars in "end rolls". Trent Hamm of The Simple Dollar explains.
At the end of a newspaper print run, quite often some of the spools will have a small percentage of the paper still on the roll, unused. Because it’s more expensive to have to stop the press and change the roll mid-printing, the people running the press will just remove that mostly-used roll (still with hundreds of square feet of paper on it) and replace it with a full roll, so that the next time the press fires up (for the next day’s paper), they won’t have to stop it early on to replace the roll.
So what do they do with those leftover rolls? They hand them over to their front office, which sells them to the public for just a dollar or two. Seriously – stop by the office of your local newspaper and ask about end rolls. Most newspapers sell them, and what you’ll receive is a large roll of blank newspaper for just a dollar or two.
He then lists 15 projects you and your children can do with this paper, and there are more in the comments. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/09/11/fifteen-ways-to-have-cheap-fun-with-your-kids-using-a-1-end-roll-of-paper/ -via Neat New Stuff
Neatorama author Stacy Conradt gave birth to her first child at the beginning of the summer. Her blogging understandably slowed down while she was on maternity leave, but she posted some thoughts on how motherhood has changed her life.
1. As long as I have a small child, the topic of conversation will eventually turn to bodily fluids and/or functions. It's true. I was even out at a bachelorette party last weekend and Paul sent me a picture of a particularly good (or BAD) diaper. I said, "Aghhh, I can't believe Paul sent me a picture of poop!!" and then I promptly sent the picture around the table. And when you manage to get spit up down your shirt and in your bra, c'mon, that's funny. You just have to share that with someone.
6. I will try really hard not to judge the way other people raise their kids. I'm totally guilty of judging what people were doing with their kids before I even had any. I thought, "Why wouldn't you breastfeed? It's so much better for your baby." Um, the answer? Because it's HARD. It's time-consuming, it's stressful not knowing how much the baby is getting, or if it's the right kind of milk, or if what you're eating is hurting her stomach, and being the only one who can get up in the middle of the night with her. And now I would never fault anyone for using formula. You have to find a good balance between your stress level and your guilt level. Mine is this: nurse when I can, but supplementing with formula is just fine. That way I'm not stressed about all of those things but I'm not feeling guilty because she's not getting all of the awesome benefits of breastfeeding. It's not all or nothing! You can compromise! And speaking of breastfeeding…
Experienced moms will say, "Yes, yes, yes... welcome to the club!" Read all ten items at i met a possum. Link
One of India's fastest-growing industries is surrogate pregnancy. Hundreds of Indian women are implanted with embryos from foreigners every year, because their services are cheap, and up until now there was little red tape to the procedure. However, lack of legal oversight causes its own problems, such as the case of the German twins who couldn't get visas to enter their parents' country for a year. New legislation will put some restrictions and regulations into place. Dr. Nayna Patel is the medical director of a fertility clinic in Anand, Gujarat.
Patel chooses among the women who appear at the clinic, at least three a day, hoping to hire out their wombs. She pairs the surrogates with infertile couples, catering to an increasingly international clientele base — from 13 foreign couples in 2006 to 85 in 2009. And she oversees the negotiations between them. The entire process costs customers around $23,000 — less than one-fifth of the going rate in the U.S. — of which the surrogate mother usually receives about $7,500 in installments. Patel implants the women with embryos, using specimens from sperm or egg donors if necessary. Once pregnant, the surrogates are housed onsite until delivery, in a dormitory that was once a local tax office, so that they can be supervised. But under the new legislation, Patel will be permitted to supervise nothing but surgery.
Under the new rules, surrogates will be able to negotiate their own rates and will receive health insurance. And children must be guaranteed citizenship from the patents' country before the procedure can be done. Of course, once the exploitation factor is gone, prices may rise and bargain hunters may have to look elsewhere. Read more in this TIME article by Hillary Brenhouse. Link -via Digg
Neatorama author Stacy Conradt gave birth to her first child yesterday. Mother, father, and baby are said to be doing fine. Lydia Louise is lookin' good!
As you can see, it took grandma to get her to open her eyes for a picture. See another picture at Neatorama.
Read all the innuendo into it you want, I think this announcement using Star Wars video is awesome! I won't spoil the ending for you. -via Geeks Are Sexy
You can easily go from holding and rocking your baby to rocking while you read, knit, or use your laptop with this lovely furniture piece from the design company Ontwerpduo. http://www.ontwerpduo.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170&Itemid=125 -via Swiss Miss
