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Newborn babies do a lot of things that seem like a complete mystery to adults but are actually very intentional. From making strange grunting sounds, to being very upset by just a little bit of gas, they really keep new parents on their toes. If your baby has a tendency to shake their head back and forth while sitting up or during tummy time, you may be curious why they’re doing that. Truly, what does it all mean? The reason is more relatable than you probably realize.
A practical reason why babies shake their heads back and forth
At first glance, it may seem like your baby has already mastered the art of defiantly telling you “no.” Don't worry, you still have a little bit of time before that starts happening because this behavior isn't about communicating, it's about moving and having fun. “We usually see head shaking side to side when a baby is seeking movement sensation,” Duke University Health's pediatric occupational therapist Lilie Bonzani and occupational therapist Mary Hart Macleod, tell Romper. They say that this head shaking behavior “may be seen when the baby is tired or irritable or in need of stimulation” of some kind.
A sweet reason why babies shake their heads back & forth
Another reason they may be shaking their head? For fun. “This sort of imitative or stimulative head shaking is normal, and often you’ll see your infant smiling or laughing to indicate they’re enjoying it,” pediatrician David L. Hill, explains. This back-and-forth with you is a lot of fun for your baby, because it's also a new way of communicating and interacting with you. “You’ve been in constant communication since birth,” says Hill, “but this is one of the most obvious signs that yes, you’re playing together.”
Once babies start crawling, they are able to expel energy that way, so it's less likely their head shaking is about moving explains Bonzani. However, babies start to crawl around 9 months of age, which is about the time Hill says imitation play starts to ramp up. So, your baby will continue to shake its head, but the purpose behind it will change.
When to contact the doctor
Of course, there are caveats to this behavior. When head shaking is seen in combination with other developmental concerns such as gross motor delays, challenges with sleep, poor feeding development and behavior, both Bonzani and Macleod agree that it's a good idea to talk to your pediatrician to see if they recommend any monitoring or intervention with an occupational therapist.
Additionally, a shaking head can signal something larger. “A very different sort of [head shaking] movement can indicate a seizure, where the infant turns their head to one side or starts jerking uncontrollably,” ” explains Hill. In this case, seek urgent medical attention.
Still, generally speaking, if your baby is shaking its head from side to side, it's perfectly normal and nothing to be concerned about.
Thanks to the magic of Hollywood, many of us have come to believe that when people spontaneously go into labor, a massive gush of water comes out from between your legs at the worst possible moment, and it’s all very dramatic. Turns out, most of the time, your going-into-labor moment isn’t going to be like that. As you near the very end of your pregnancy, it suddenly becomes important to know how to tell the difference between amniotic fluid and discharge. We spoke to Dr. Kelli Burroughs, an OB-GYN at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, and Liesel Teen, a labor and delivery nurse, about when should you worry, and what water breaking actually feels like. Of course, if you are actively worried that you may be leaking amniotic fluid, that warrants an immediate call to your health care provider.
What’s the difference between amniotic fluid and discharge?
Amniotic fluid is what cushions your baby and protects them while they’re in the womb. It fills the amniotic sack your baby is growing inside of the entire pregnancy. It is typically odorless and light or clear yellow in color. It also contains nutrients, hormones, antibodies and other fluids to keep your baby healthy. So there’s a huge difference between amniotic fluid and normal vaginal discharge — which does typically increase during pregnancy — but how can you tell which is which?
“Once amniotic fluid starts leaking, it is notorious for being continuous. Patients will commonly report multiple episodes of leakage in a short amount of time,” Burroughs says. “Discharge is more intermittent,” she says.
Consistency another way tell them apart, adds Teen. “Vaginal discharge is normally a lot stickier or slipperier, kind of like egg-whites, and amniotic fluid is generally the consistency of water,” she says. However, both Teen and Burroughs say that if you’re at all suspicious that you may be leaking amniotic fluid, you should contact your health care provider right away.
What does it feel like when your water breaks?
“Many patients (including me) experienced a sudden release of a water,” says Burroughs. “Like a water balloon popping followed by continuous leakage of fluid. Other patients will report a repetitive trickle, i.e., trickle of clear fluid, 30 minutes later another episode of continuous trickle, followed by more episodes of trickle.”
“For most women, the only way they know their water has broken is by the leakage of fluid,” Teen says. “However, a small percentage of women have told me that they felt a big pop in their belly right before their water broke!”
There are usually two different scenarios, Teen adds. Either a dramatic gush of fluid or a slow and steady trickle. “If all of the sudden you feel a huge gush and it feels like you peed your pants, your water may have just broken,” Teen says. “It usually doesn’t just stop with that one gush.”
What do you do if your water breaks
If you suspect that your water has broken, contact your healthcare provider immediately, Teen says. For some women, their water breaks and labor doesn’t immediately begin, but for others, contractions immediately start happening as soon as their water breaks and they need to prepare for delivery ASAP.
Bottom line? Vaginal discharge is a normal part of pregnancy. However, if you’re worried at all — at any point in your pregnancy — that you may be leaking amniotic fluid, contact your health care provider right away.
Sources interviewed:
Dr. Kelli Burroughs, M.D., Department Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital.
I’ve been a mom for nine years now, and in those nine years, I’ve had three daughters and breastfed each of them. It sounds so simple when I write it like that, but (so far) my breastfeeding journey totals 41 months of my life, and that feels significant. I’m deeply proud of the work I put into nursing, of the sleepless nights and the newborn cluster-feeds, but I’m also proud of how breastfeeding my daughters made me feel. And I’m endlessly surprised by just how many pictures I took of myself breastfeeding.
I was definitely a nursing cover kind of gal. I 100% do not care if anyone else breastfeeds without a cover, but I never ever felt comfortable nursing without one unless I was at home. Maybe people thought I was embarrassed or ashamed. Maybe they thought I still had some misogyny baked deep within me. Maybe they thought I was trying to hide nursing my child because I didn’t want anyone to know.
But the camera roll in my phone tells a different story.
I breastfed my first baby in 2014, lying on the bed in the recovery room after having been cut open just 20 minutes before so they could pull my girl out. Still woozy from the drugs and numb from the waist down, I have zero memory of my mom coming in to see me. But I do remember them placing my daughter on my chest, my arms a sea of cords and tubes, warm towels draped over every part of me. A nurse asked me if I wanted to breastfeed her. I did. “I didn’t read any books,” I sheepishly said. The nurse just looked at me.
“You don’t need a book. Just try it.”
And I did. And it worked. And I literally could not stop thinking about it. About how my body knew just what to do. How my baby knew just what to do. And none of this is meant to shame anyone who doesn’t want to breastfeed or who can’t breastfeed. Not one single moment of my experience is being shared to discredit someone else’s or make them feel less than — but I was truly just amazed. I talked about nursing my girl to everyone who would listen. I felt incredibly proud every time a nurse walked in to say, “Wow, you got that figured out, didn’t you?” And I just could not stop taking pictures of myself breastfeeding my daughter.
Selfies of me with a baby attached to my breast. Photos my husband took in the NICU with our second daughter when she had her feeding tube removed and immediately latched, despite everyone warning me she might struggle. Middle-of-the-night grainy shots of my third daughter nuzzled into me like she just belonged, drinking milk so fast it spilled out of her cheeks and down her chin.
There are close-up photos of my baby’s latches, professional photos of me nursing our baby during a family photo-shoot, even pictures of my babies when they were big enough to break their latch and smile at me, my nipple unfocused in the image. It feels so strange to share all of this — who admits to having a million photos of their boobs that aren’t actual thirst traps (although, my actual babies might argue with the thirst part)? It’s not like any of these photos were ever taken to share with anyone else — I don’t even know if I would show them to my children.
But they are for me. They are full of joy and pride. They are a reminder that, no matter how I feel about my body on my worst day, it literally did that. It fed my three daughters. I’ve taken a lot of photos of my body over the years, usually for lovers and social media and dirty text messages sent to my now-husband when he was sick with the stomach flu and couldn’t see me for a week. I don’t ever go back and look at those.
But the photos of me breastfeeding? Those are saved, favorited, in a folder in my Google Photos account. Nursing a child is hard. Getting up every two hours is hard, finding a quiet place with a distracted 6-month-old to nurse them to sleep is hard, having to watch how fast you drink your beer at a Braves game because you’ll have to breastfeed again in two hours is hard. But when I scroll through them, I can still feel everything I felt when those photos were taken — just pure love. And maybe some chapped nipples.
And Just Like That... on Max has become known for a revolving door of new characters being introduced. Some incredibly popular (hello Seema), some less so (sorry Che). But one in particular was an absolute little scene stealer, so much so that Carrie Bardshaw herself couldn’t resist bringing him along to live with her in the real world. In an effusive Instagram post, Sarah Jessica Parker announced that she had adopted Carrie’s cat “Shoes” from And Just Like That... And you should be prepared, because his real life name might be even better than Shoes.
Fans of And Just Like That... will remember that Carrie’s friend Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) brought a stray kitten over to her apartment and sort of forced the pet on her. Though Carrie has not really been a pet person in the past, it appears things have changed. She embraced her new role as pet mom to sweet little “Shoes” (because of course she named her cat Shoes), even bringing him out during the season finale to visit with guests at The Last Supper and calling Shoes her “baby,” much to the dismay of Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), who had just experienced a miscarriage.
Now Carrie’s “baby” kitten Shoes is Sarah Jessica Parker’s newest addition.
Parker adopted Lotus from the Connecticut Humane Society, who also shared the update on his new family. “Some pets get really exciting foster homes while they're here at the Connecticut Humane Society. Little Lotus got to be on the set of And Just Like That with @SarahJessicaParker in Manhattan!” the Humane Society wrote. “Did you see his adorable debut? And #spoileralert, Lotus liked the spotlight so much, he's decided to stay on the show!”
Some cats really do get all the luck. Lotus AKA Shoes not only gets a recurring story arc on And Just Like That... he gets to live in Sarah Jessica Parker’s home with his new cat pals. Amazing.
Whether he’s working on a new documentary or oh-so-casually stepping away from the royal family to start a different life as a private citizen, it’s clear that Prince Harry always has his kids on mind. In fact, while his new Netflix docuseries isn’t about him or his family, childrenArchie and Lilibet are still somewhat present. Because Harry is nothing if not a “Papa Bear” in everything he does.
Heart of Invictus tells the stories of the Invictus Games — an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicepeople, both active duty and veterans, that Harry founded in 2014. The five-part docuseries follows the events of past games and the athletes who recover, physically, mentally, and otherwise, through the competition.
The Duke of Sussex starts off the series by introducing himself in an interview: “My name’s Harry ... On any given day, I’m a dad of two under three-year-olds, got a couple of dogs, [I'm] a husband, I’m founding patron of Invictus Games Foundation. There’s lots of hats one wears, but I believe today is all about Invictus.”
But if Harry wears many hats, a literal hat seen in the series pays tribute to his dad-status.
Prince Harry is father to 4-year-old son Archie and 2-year-old daughter Lilibet with wife Meghan Markle. And while he is incredibly protective of keeping them out of the public eye, he didn’t mind sharing a very adorable nod to the name his son Archie calls him: a baseball cap with the words “Papa Bear.”
Prince Harry certainly seems to have taken after his own mother Princess Diana’s very hands-on approach to parenting, making sure to be there for his kids in every sense of the word.
On Monday, a lone gunman entered the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and killed a faculty member. For several hours on Monday afternoon, the university campus went into lockdown, with students advised to get indoors, close their doors and windows, and simply wait for further instruction. For hours these students had to sit, wait, and wonder what was going to happen with a live shooter on campus. Their families at home had to wait as well. The UNC student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, has given people a horrifying glimpse at what that looked like for everyone involved by sharing students’ texts on its front page.
Caitlyn Yaede, the print managing editor of The Daily Tar Heel, took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the student newspaper’s recent front page in the wake of the UNC-Chapel Hill shooting that left Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the department of Applied Physical Sciences, dead and a former student in police custody. “The front page of tomorrow's @dailytarheel,” Yaede wrote on Twitter. “I shed many tears while typing up these heart-wrenching text messages sent and received by UNC students yesterday. Our campus was on lockdown for more than three hours. Beyond proud of this cover and the team behind it.”
The texts, some of which were in red and some in black, offered a sobering perspective on what students and their loved ones were experiencing as they waited to find out what was happening with the lone shooter. “Are you safe? Where are you? Are you alone?” some texts read.
“Come on sweetheart - I need to hear from you. Can you hear any gunshots? Please stay safe.” More responses read, with the final texts sharing the perspective of loved ones who were also waiting to find out how their family was doing. “Are you safe? Please send literally anything. I heard someone got shot. Can you call me? Are you okay? IDK what to do. I wish I could come get you. Don’t stop texting me.”
Reactions to the cover on social media demonstrate that it appears to have achieved its desired effect.
“Absolutely heartbreaking and frustrating that it had to be made,” offered @jcbringle on Twitter.
“I will never undestand how anyone in a position of power can see and hear anguish like this and refuse to do anything about it,” agreed @paigemasten.
The front page of The Daily Tar Heel was shared all over Twitter, with many social media users noting that no one should have to live with that kind of fear. “We don’t have to live like this,” tweeted @JoyceWhiteVance. “It’s madness.”
March For Our Lives shared the front page of The Daily Tar Heel with the reminder that “this is not normal.”
This is not normal. At least it shouldn’t be. And this student newspaper shouldn’t have to be the ones to remind us.
Flying with kids is not for the feint of heart. Not only do you have to deal with their potential anxiety and fear and irritation, you know that there are other passengers who are ready to be annoyed with you no matter what you do. But now, people who are not into flying with kids might just be in luck; one European airline is banking on the idea that there will be a whole lot of passengers who would pay extra for an adults-only flight.
Starting in November, Turkish-Dutch company Corendon Airlines is planning to offer child-free areas on long haul flights between Amsterdam and Curacao, which takes around 10 hours. In a press release, the airline announced it would set aside 93 regular seats and nine extra legroom seats at the front of its Airbus A350 planes for passengers who do not want to be seated near young children. The first 12 rows of flights will follow a strict policy of only allowing passengers 16 years of age and up. These flights have 432 seats in total and children are allowed to sit at the back of the plane, but there will be a curtain or a wall separating them from the adults-only area, which I assume will include a disco ball and dancing as befits its adults-only status.
Corendon Airlines explained in a statement on their website that the adult-only section “is intended for travelers traveling without children and for business travelers who want to work in a quiet environment,” but they think this separation will be a benefit for parents and children as well. “At the same time, the introduction of the Only Adult zone also has a positive effect for parents with children,” their statement read. “They don't have to worry as much about possible reactions from fellow passengers if their child is a bit busier or cries.”
The luxury of being able to fly for 10 hours in child-free zones does come at a cost, although some might not find it too exorbitant. The regular seats cost an extra 45 euros while the adults-only seats with extra legroom are 100 euros more than the regular cost.
Many have questioned whether the curtain or even wall of a child-free section would truly be able to insulate adult riders from the sounds of fussy children. One Twitter user compared it to the “Smoking” and “Non-Smoking” sections of restaurants; for those of you too young to remember, it did not make much of a difference since smoke, like sound, tends to waft. But others welcomed the news.
“I would absolutely pay extra,” tweeted @JoemamaServus in response to the announcement.
“This would be awesome,” tweeted @EsslingerKeri, cheekily. “My kids who quietly play on their Nintendo switches and I can sit away from the people that talk loud enough for everyone to hear them the entire flight.
Corendon Airlines is not actually the first to test the concept of child-free flights. Scoot, a low-cost airline based in Singapore, starting offering flights in 2021 where children under the age of 12 are “banned,” and in 2012 Malaysia Airlines tried to make the upper deck of their economy section child-free zones as well. This didn’t last long, as the airline started seating families in that area if they couldn’t find room for them anywhere else.
The spookiest night of the year is going to be upon us before we know it. Soon, little ghouls and goblins will roam the streets in search of doors to knock on and candy to collect. If you plan to hand out candy on Halloween, knowing how to let trick-or-treaters know you have candy can mean the difference between joyfully off-loading copious amounts of chocolate to neighbor kids in costume and ending up with a giant bag of leftovers.
How to let trick-or-treaters know you have candy
On Halloween night, there are several ways to let trick-or-treaters know that they are welcome to come to your door. The rule of thumb that never fails? Light the way to the candy. The classic, unspoken rule that many of us were raised with is to only trick-or-treat at houses with their porch lights on. Lauren Cobello, a consumer savings expert, agrees, adding that classic Halloween decorations also add to the message that you’re a house that welcomes trick-or-treaters. “Put a jack-o-lantern on your steps with a candle burning,” she tells Romper. “You can also leave your front door open if you have a storm door, so that trick-or-treaters know they can come to your house.”
Aside from illuminating the way for kids in costume, welcoming trick-or-treaters with a plethora of Halloween decor will typically signal to passersby that you have candy to hand out. “A couple of our favorite low-effort ways to turn on your ‘open’ sign for Halloween trick-or-treaters is to decorate your front door or windows with repurposed items that you probably already have sitting around," Andrea Fowler, an entertainment writer, tells Romper. “For example, if you have a broom, set it next to your front door and wrap it with string lights. Create a sign for your door by taking a sharpie to a piece of large paper and write — in your spookiest handwriting — something like, ‘The Witches Are: IN.’”
The fall season can an absolute flurry of business, so if you just don't have time to do all of the decorating before Oct. 31, Fowler recommends keeping it low-key and simple. “You really only need one piece of obvious decor (that can be seen both during the day and at night) to say, ‘We’re here and we've got candy,’” Fowler says. If people in your neighborhood are active on Next Door, you can also mark your house as a “treat house” on their handy little treat map.
What to do if you have candy to hand out, but also need to take your kids trick-or-treating
When Oct. 31 rolls around, I will definitely be out scouring the neighborhood for candy with my kids. Because I won't be home to answer the door when the other trick-or-treaters come knocking, I’ll likely leave a bowl of candy with a note to please take a piece on my front porch for trick-or-treaters who come by while we’re out.
Although this tactic does leave the door wide open for someone to swipe the entire bowl's worth of candy for themselves, relying on the honor system allows me the opportunity to take my own kids trick-or-treating while still letting me contribute to making someone else's Halloween night just a bit more spooktacular with some delicious candy.
Whether you’re expecting wave after wave of neighborhood kids, or just a slow trickle, make sure to let trick-or-treaters know that you're ready to stuff their treat bags with handfuls of goodies by lighting the way, adding a sign, and putting out some sort of decor. Your local kids (and their adults) will be glad you did.
With the Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, you know their 2023 animated feature had to be something really special. Enter Wish, a film that will finally answer the question “what happens when you wish upon a star?” It only took 100 years to find out, and Wish looks like it was absolutely worth the wait.
What is Wish about?
Wish tells the story of 17-year-old Asha (voiced by West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose), who lives in the magical world of Rosas with her pet goat Valentino (voiced by Dodgeball’s Alan Tudyk). Rosas is the kingdom of wishes, and one night Asha makes an impassioned plea to the sky only to discover that there really is a wishing star... a literal little creature named Star, who comes to Asha to help her save the kingdom of Rosas from the evil King Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine). King Magnifico is intent on stealing the wishes of the people of Rosas, and Asha takes it upon herself to put a stop to his plan.
The trailer for Wish promises everything we hope for in a Disney movie.
The strong female lead! The enchanting fairy tale kingdom! The music! The charismatic-but-sinister villain! The deep-voiced baby goat! The precious little star creature! We’re sold.
DeBose says she’s excited to play Asha.
“She’s many, many things,” she told Deadline. “She’s so smart, she’s got a great sense of humor and she’s trying to take care of people she loves most in the world. She’s a leader and doesn’t realize it. She’s just living and doing and learning along the way. She doesn’t always get it right, which is the definition of being human.”
And, much like other animated Disney classics like Frozen, Encanto, and Tangled, DeBose told Deadline that fans can expect “a lot of singing” in Wish. “I think audiences can be excited about original songs, an original story,” she said. “It's all the Disney magic you know and love, but it looks like us, and that's really exciting.”
How can you watch Wish?
Wish is being released exclusively in theaters across the country on Nov. 22, 2023. There are no details as of yet as to when it will be available to stream on Disney+... but, that said, we do know that Encanto was also released in late November 2021 and was streaming on Disney+ by Christmas that year, so it might just be a Christmas Wish come true...
Adam Sandler’s latest movie, You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, is a family affair in every sense of the word. The movie features Sandler’s entire nuclear family and stars his 14-year-old daughter Sunny as Stacy Friedman, a young girl who is getting all worked up over her desperation to have the best bat mitzvah ever. It’s an experience the young actress might know a little something about: the Sandler family had their own bat mitzvah for Sunny before filming the Netflix movie, and it sounds like the blow out of Stacy Friedman’s dreams.
The movie is an adaptation of Fiona Rosenbloom’s 2005 novel of the same name. In the lead-up to her bat mitzvah, Stacy (Sunny Sandler) discovers a romance blooming between her best friend Lydia (Samantha Lorraine) and her crush, Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman). Stacy’s older sister Ronnie (played by real-life sister Sadie Sandler), isn’t exactly understanding of her dilemma. Though real-life dad Adam Sandler plays Stacy’s bewildered but well-meaning dad Danny in the film, the role of Stacy’s mother Bree is filled by non-Sandler Idina Menzel. But don’t worry: mom Jackie Sandler can also be seen in the film playing event planner Gabi Rodriquez.
A bat mitzvah is a Jewish coming of age ceremony for girls (for boys, it’s a bar mitzvah) that takes place when the child is 12 or 13. It’s a religious service traditionally attended by friends and family and is often followed by a party afterwards. Sunny’s bat mitzvah was star-studded, and included celebrity guests like Jennifer Aniston, David Spade, Taylor Lautner, and Peyton List, to name a few. And let’s not forget that Charlie Puth and Halsey performed.
What wouldn’t Stacy Friedman do for such a party?
Another person on the guest list was You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah director Sammi Cohen, “What’s really funny is right before we started prepping for the film, Sunny had her actual bat mitzvah,” Cohen told People. “So I went to that service, and we got to do the real-life bat mitzvah and then left to make the movie. It was a really fun life movie moment.” He also notes that the party felt “equally as fun as the parties” in the film.
It’s a common refrain among moms around birthdays and other big celebrations. They buy the gift and the card and plan the party and then add their partner’s name to the card as though it were a joint effort. Maybe it’s not a big deal to everyone, but for one mom enough was enough. She reached out to the sub-Reddit “Am I The A**hole” community to see if she was in the wrong for not including her husband’s name on her daughter’s birthday card, and she got a real mixed bag of responses.
“It was my daughter's birthday yesterday and i wrote her the following in her birthday card,” the mom wrote on Reddit, sharing the sweet message of love she sent to her daughter for her fourth birthday in a card she signed, “happy birthday, love mummy.” While she was happy with the card, her “partner was FURIOUS that i didn't write it from the both of us.”
She went on to explain in her post that she had indeed shown her partner the card earlier and he did not ask her to put his name on it before adding that she “just wanted a card from me to her.”
The original poster also wondered why her partner didn’t get their daughter a birthday card from him if that was something he wanted. She noted that the couple are in the process of separating and have never had a history of giving their little girl a birthday card specifically, either together or separately.
The mom’s decision not to sign her partner’s name to their daughter’s birthday card garnered lots of opinions on both sides of the issue. “Why Fathers don't put any effort in their relationship with their children and then expect the mothers to step up to pretend the father cares? He can get his own card,” wrote one user, while another disagreed. “YTA - a 4 year old kid probably doesn’t have the reading comprehension to understand the card and who signed it. You are making a passive aggressive point to your partner and using your kid as a pawn in your petty relationship drama.”
While there were plenty of people who appeared to think it was the mother’s responsibility to sign the birthday card for her partner, this person made an excellent point. “He could’ve taken the initiative to spend 5 extra seconds writing his own name down to show that he cared. Or even better yet he could’ve bought her his own card that he thought she would like. I personally could always tell growing up that it was just my mom signing for stuff. That my dad couldn’t be bothered to spend the extra 5 seconds writing his own name down to say that he loved me. We as a society need to stop making excuses for these lazy husbands not putting in the effort for their own kids.”
Realistically, their 4-year-old daughter was probably far less interested in her birthday card than she was in her gifts. So maybe now is the time for her dad to get into the habit of signing birthday cards himself before she does start to notice.
Sex And The City was not for me the first time around. It should have been for me. I was a woman in my early 30s who loved romance and had friends and wrote about my life for my local newspaper. I liked brunch. So why couldn’t I get behind Sex And The City?
Jealousy. Really just jealousy. Carrie and Miranda and Charlotte and Samantha were living lives more foreign to me than Spongebob Squarepants, the vastly more popular series in my household at the time. Sure, they were all approximately my age but I was a mom, a single mom of multiple sons. Not even just one cute daughter which for some reason is so much more palatable for a network series. I was too broke for brunch. unless brunch was me making pancakes on a Sunday for four little boys who seemed less than interested in talking about breakups or new love interests. They were my love interests and they weren’t even all that interested, to be honest.
My adult friends were all moms too and they didn’t have time for brunch, either. Sometimes we went to the movies and split appetizers in a local restaurant beforehand, but the gossip, I’m sorry to report, was mostly about our kids. My life felt like a horrible funhouse mirror version of Sex And The City that no one would have tuned in to watch. I lived in a small town in a rented house on a deadend street. I barely dated and when I did it was sad tragic, not “post-it note” fun tragic. My big breakup was actually a divorce that I mourned on winter walks in secondhand boots or cried over in the laundry room as I folded 10,000 pairs of little boy boxers. And my wardrobe… well. Carrie and the gals would not have liked me. If I was in a scene on Sex And The City I would have been one of those boring suburban moms the four of them laughed at, with my lazy ponytail and tired eyes. And I would be frowning at those women for their silliness.
I really hated their silliness or maybe I hated that they had time to be silly. That they had time to dip their fries in ketchup or shop for shoes or go for pedicures or think about themselves, all the time they got to think about themselves. Because they didn’t have kids and I did and back then this was our great divide, the beast we all fed.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Anthony (Mario Cantone) at brunch in Season 2, Episode 4 of And Just Like That...
Now I am 50. And I embrace every minute of And Just Like That… with my whole heart. After 20 years of feeding the kids/no kids, city/small town beast, I have time to just stop. To see how we have all grown back to each other in middle age. Our shoulders are not squared against each other anymore, they are soft and rounded and loose from the yoga we’re all doing to improve our posture. Our sameness in our 50s is more than our differences. The menopause we all joke about but keeps us up in the night, crippled with fear and worry and loss, this belongs to us all. The losses are not measured against each other anymore but instead held within the hoop of our clasped arms to share. When Carrie drinks a cocktail with Anthony in her pajamas in the middle of the afternoon or Charlotte gets a surprise period in her white jumpsuit or Seema rails at the erasure of single culture in her late 40s or LTW is getting her career off the ground after years of raising kids, this is for all of us.
It's not as funny or lighthearted. I doubt it will be called iconic or groundbreaking. It’s not setting any trends. But that’s part of its beauty.
And Just Like That… is like a playground for middle aged women, a colorful, ridiculous game we are all invited to play because now is our time to be the same as each other. To marvel at any friendship that has gotten us here, the relaxed, easy way of simply having your people. To spend a little money on goody stuff if you are very lucky. A boozy brunch where yes, we still talk about our kids. But our kids are grown into their own people. Hopefully learning to be silly in themselves the way I am learning to be silly too.
We are in our second puberty together, that’s what And Just Like That… feels like to me, except this puberty comes with slightly better sheets and maybe sleeping in on Sunday mornings and a holiday to Paris that once felt impossible. Improbable. Imprudent. Silly.
And for the luckiest among us, there might be a relaxed love that is not the sexy, Mr. Big and Carrie kind of heart-twisting drama that we once thought we wanted. It might look more like Charlotte and Harry trying to program her new phone on their big bed, easy and unthinking in their contentment with each other.
And Just Like That… is probably not as good as Sex And The City was. It's not as funny or lighthearted. I doubt it will be called iconic or groundbreaking. It’s not setting any trends. But that’s part of its beauty: the way it lets us all in.
The first time you feed your baby may not feel as second-nature as you expected. Or maybe some nice parents already told you that it’s normal to struggle with breastfeeding at first. After all, you and your baby are doing this for the first time, ever. Even if they’re not your first child, it’s your first time breastfeeding them, and babies have this annoying way of being their own person right from the start, complete with preferences and personalities. So yeah, whether this is your very first time breastfeeding, or your fifth, it may be helpful to have a confident grasp of more than one go-to breastfeeding position so you can mix it up as-needed. Many parents end up settling on a favorite hold or position that seems to work best for both your comfort and your baby’s, while others prefer to mix it up throughout the day, depending on where they are and what they’re doing (not to mention how exhausted they are). Whether you’re trying to find a position that relieves gas or reflux, or just something that makes it easier for your baby to get a good latch, here are the five most common breastfeeding positions.
Tips for getting comfortable in any breastfeeding position
Board-certified lactation consultant Tiara Caldwell explains that whichever breastfeeding positions you want to try, there are three key things that will help you get comfortable and help your baby get a good latch:
Bring baby as close to your body as possible. “That might mean that you need additional pillows to bring the baby up, height-wise, or you may need another hand,” Caldwell explains. “If there's too much distance between you and your baby, that could increase the baby not being able to get enough breast tissue in their mouth, which means sore nipples.”
Be sure that you’re belly-to-belly with your baby. “Often, when someone hands you your baby, you’ll find yourself hold the baby with their belly facing up towards the ceiling,” Caldwell says, explaining that trying to breastfeed with Baby in that position is a common mistake that new parents make.
Consider a position that allows you to clearly see how your baby is coming to the breast. Particularly if you’re having trouble getting a comfortable latch, Caldwell recommends that new parents consider positions — like the football hold — that allow you to see Baby’s mouth as it latches from a new angle.
Cradle Hold
Arguably the most classic of breastfeeding positions, the cradle hold is likely what you picture first when you imagine a person breastfeeding their baby. “The cradle hold, I think, is the most popular position,” Caldwell agrees. To try the cradle hold, begin by bringing your baby close to your belly so that their body is facing yours.
The cradle hold is quite simple — “just baby belly-to-belly with you with the arm supporting their weight,” Caldwell says. This means that if you’re going to feed Baby from your right breast, hold them with your right arm and let their head rest and body, supported by your arm. In the cradle hold, your other hand should be free to help guide your breast to your baby’s mouth. Remember that, although it’s likely to be the first one you try, that doesn’t mean it will be the right fit for you. If you’re struggling to get comfortable or are dealing with a shallow latch, consider trying one of the lesser-known positions.
Cross-Cradle
Similar to the Cradle Hold, Cross-Cradle is a bit more supported, and in fact, is particularly recommended for babies, like preemies, who may need a bit more support as they nurse. In Cross-Cradle, if you’re bringing your baby to nurse on your right side, you’ll hold them across your body — belly-to-belly — with your left arm, supporting their head with your left hand. Your right arm may be underneath Baby, as well, offering additional support.
Football Hold
As with all of these positions, they’re easiest to try for the first time with a little guidance. If you give birth in a hospital, you may want to consider asking if there is a lactation consultant available to show you how to get into a comfortable position and to check your baby’s latch. Football hold may seem a bit tricky at first, but it can be a great one for really seeing how your baby comes to the breast to feed and making adjustments as-needed, Caldwell says. Football Hold may also be a particularly good breastfeeding position if you’ve had a C-section, because the baby will not be pressed against your incision site, but rather cuddled up to the side of your body.
To nurse your baby in the Football Hold, begin by making sure nothing is behind you, because you’ll need a little room for your baby’s legs to run along your side body. “Baby is still belly to belly with you, but a little more off to the side,” Caldwell clarifies. Your baby can still be cradled in your arm — in your right arm if you’re nursing on the right side, and vice versa — but their bodies will be turned in the opposite direction (legs pointing behind you) from that of the Cradle Hold. “I'm still holding baby the same way by supporting the neck with my hand, and you should still have a free hand to be able to guide your breasts,” Caldwell says.
Side-Lying
One position Caldwell loves to recommend for older babies is the Side-Lying breastfeeding position. Breastfeeding parents will love it because yes, you get to lay down to do it, and babies often enjoy it as a cuddly way to nurse, particularly at a sleepy time of day. “You will be laying on one of your sides, and you want baby to be, again, close to you. You may need a pillow or a cushion or a partner just to keep baby from rolling,” Caldwell suggests. As with any position, Caldwell recommends you bring Baby to your breast at a bit of an angle so that you’re able to see and they're able to get a deep latch.
Laid-Back Position
If you’re on the hunt for breastfeeding positions that reduce gas and help with any reflux issues your baby may be having, look no further than the Laid-Back breastfeeding position. Because baby stays very upright, it might be a little more comfortable for babies struggling with a gassy belly. Plus, Caldwell says, it’s actually very easy. Especially if you have a newborn, it may help to latch the baby first in the Cradle Hold, and then recline back, she suggests, at least when you’re trying it for the first time. “When they hand you your baby for skin-to-skin after birth, baby will start looking for the breast. If you just recline back in the bed, the baby will find their way to the breast. You really don't need a whole lot of support to keep them there, because gravity will help them stay on top of the breast.”
The Laid-Back position may be a perfect fit if you have a fast letdown or bigger breasts and struggles associated with either of those issues, she adds. “For parents who have bigger breasts in the Laid-Back position, they’re not having to deal with the weight, all the time, of trying to hold up the breast. They just need an arm to be able to support the baby.”
Koala Hold
Parents of older babies and toddlers should know about the Koala Hold, Caldwell says. It’s a popular breastfeeding position for older babies, and one that she herself favored when nursing her toddler. “In the Koala Hold the baby would be sitting up in your lap,” she says simply. Belly-to-belly, your baby or toddler would be facing you, with their legs over yours and their arms around you in sort of a hug, much like the way a baby koala would cling to its mother.
When in doubt, seek some advice
Lactation consultants or even your child’s pediatrician may be a wonderful resources if you’re struggling to find a comfortable position or you’re worried that your baby isn’t getting enough milk during feedings. There are many ways to make breastfeeding work for you, if that’s something that you want to do.
Labor Day is upon us, and whether your kids are already back in school or start in the coming weeks, things are about to get very busy, so you want to make sure you take advantage of the long 3-day weekend that comes with the holiday. Maybe you want to use your resources to book a trip away from home or you might be leaning towards something low-key and local. Whatever the case, here are some suggestions for what to do on Labor Day with kids, ranging from simple to elaborate.
There are a lot of options for Labor Day activities, but when you’re trying to throw a plan together at the last minute, it can be kind of overwhelming. But don’t worry, it’s easier to figure this out than you might think — even considering that it has to be something that’s up to your kids’ very high standards of what “fun” is.
Whether you’re craving something more traditional, something adventurous or you kind of just want to hang out, there’s plenty of family friendly things to do on your day off.
What to do away from home on Labor Day weekend
Go camping (or glamping!): The weekend may be a bit too short to travel far, but if you live within driving distance of a camping site, you could make the most of the weekend by getting away. A lot of camping sites also have glamping options, if you want a mattress and a real shower with your nature experience.
Rent a house at a nearby lake or beach: Whether it’s through AirBnB or another service, you can probably find a place to rent for a few days at a lake or beach near you. Having the water right outside for the weekend will be so much easier than having to drive over there on any of the days you’d want to go. This would also be a special way to make new memories with the kids.
Book a hotel with a pool: Access to a pool and room service? What’s not to love.
Do a bike tour: Spend one day out of the weekend in your nearest city doing a bike tour. They’re surprisingly easy to find — go to Backroads.com, put in your destination and you’ll find plenty of options for biking, hiking, or walking tours. They accept last minute bookings, too.
Classic Labor Day activities
Create a scavenger hunt or obstacle course: All you need to create these activities are some household items and an imagination! For a scavenger hunt, you can hide items around your house or backyard, or go to a local park and have the kids find things they will definitely find (like a tall tree or a certain color leaf). For an obstacle course, you can create challenges based on whatever you have in your garage and their skill level. Lovevery has a great example for how to do this.
Go to a baseball game: A lot of major league and minor league baseball teams are still playing throughout Labor Day weekend. If it’s not too hot out, this could be a really fun activity for kids and adults alike. You could even invite other families to go, too!
Host a barbecue: Barbecues are probably the most common way to celebrate Labor Day, given it’s one of the last opportunities to have one before it gets cooler out and schedules fill up. To make it extra low-lift, make it a potluck.
Have a picnic in a local park: If you don’t feel like hosting, you could get together with family and friends at a local park for a picnic. If there’s a playground or space to run around, your kids will have something to do while you get a chance to socialize and you won’t have to worry about cleaning the house.
What to do if it’s too hot or rainy
Shop the Labor Day sales: Been a while since you visited a mall? Depending on where you live, school has already started or is staring soon — so take advantage of the sales. You can get your kids involved by having them write a list of back-to-school needs and wishes and either taking them to the stores or having them help pick items out online. Perhaps you can even get an early start on holiday shopping.
Have a movie marathon: There are some great family friendly movies to watch on Labor Day. Depending on the age and interests of your kids, Ballerina, Hidden Figures, and Rookie of the Year could be some great movies about hard work to show them. Take turns picking flicks and leave out a massive tray of snacks.
Do a Labor Day-themed arts & crafts project: It may not seem like there would be a Labor Day-themed arts & crafts project out there, but there’s plenty of options that could be made to fit the theme. For example, you and your kids could learn how make red, white and blue potholders (or whatever color their hearts desire) using a potholder loom. Not only is it easy, but it’s useful and your kids will be proud that they made something that gets used everyday in the kitchen. You could also help them make a star-spangled craft wreath, which can be displayed again and again on any patriotic holiday.
What you do on Labor Day can be as eventful or chill as you want it to be. Manage your expectations, don’t overthink it, and enjoy the time you get to spend with your family.
Meghan Trainor has got this “mom of two” thing down... perhaps a little too well. Ever since she and husband Daryl Sabara welcomed their son Barry in July (making their 2 year old, Riley, a big brother), she feels like she has been living out the plot of the movie Groundhog Day because their routine is so consistent. And while she loves it, she’s ready to add in a little “arts and crafts” to help her feel like herself again.
The singer spoke to People at the Streamy Awards on Sunday night about her daily life with Barry and Riley, comparing it to the classic comedy. For those who don’t know, Groundhog Day is a 1993 film about a crabby weather man played by Bill Murray who got stuck living the same day over and over again while on assignment in Puxatawney, Pennsylvania. We’re going to go out on a limb and guess that parents of little ones can understand why this concept resonates with Trainor, who talked about the monotony in the sweetest possible way. “Yeah baby. Two boys. And I'm going to start writing soon. Because I am in this Groundhog Day every day with my children in a nice routine,” she told the outlet. “We love routine.”
So yes, she loves routine and fortunately for her the kids are “good sleeping babies” which makes life easier. But still, she’s ready to get back into doing something for herself too, telling People. “But I told 'em, I was like, 'I [need to do] arts and crafts soon, or I'm going to go crazy.’”
Trainor is fortunate in that she has plenty of adults to pitch in at home when she wants to get back to writing songs (and/or doing arts and crafts for herself, because you deserve your time, mama!). Not just her husband, Spy Kids actor Daryl Sabara, but also a nanny the couple hired when they welcomed son Riley in 2020. Oh, and her two brothers live with the couple as well! And Trainor’s mom lives just 20 minutes away. “My brothers Ryan and Justin live in my house,” she told Romper in 2021. “I’m like, ‘Do not leave! It’s a scary world. You’re staying here.’”
This genius mom has enough people around to help with her two little boys and do some fun arts and crafts with her if that’s what she’s into. Truly this is the way to get it done.
Adele’s love of her fans cannot be restrained— not even when she’s in the middle of performing at a concert. The singer was onstage in Las Vegas over the weekend when she stopped in the middle of a song to defend an audience member from security. The beautiful moment was caught on video, and truly no one in the world was more grateful than that sweet fan who just wanted to sing his heart out along with her.
On Saturday night at her “Weekends With Adele” show at Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a fan recorded himself standing and singing along to Adele and having the time of his life. But apparently security (and another member of the audience) wanted him to sit and be quiet. The singer was in the middle of performing “Water Under The Bridge” when she stopped to call out to security in the audience.
“What is going on there with that young fan who’s been bothered so much, since I came on, for standing up? What’s going on with him?” she was seen asking in video footage from the concert, identifying a security member and asking him, “What are you doing? Why are you all bothering him? Can you leave him alone, please?”
When the fan realizes that Adele herself is defending his right to enjoy the concert, he is overcome with joy and blows her kisses. “They won’t bother you anymore, darling. Enjoy the show,” she tells him before smiling and pretending to catch one of his kisses.
The singer went on to explain what was happening to fans, saying “Sorry, guys. He’s been bothered the whole show by security and other people sitting behind him. He’s here to have fun. All of you are here to have fun.” That sweet fan now has that moment to remember for the rest of his life.
Adele is an artist who really seems to love connecting with her fans at concerts. She recently helped an expectant couple with their gender reveal while she was onstage, stopping the performance to open an envelope from their doctor to share that they were having a baby boy. As mom to 11-year-old son Angelo, Adele even broke down in tears of her own over the emotional moment, telling the couple that she was so “honored” to be part of their gender reveal.
When the final episode of Season 2 of And Just Like That... finally dropped last Thursday, there was one scene fans were all waiting for: the hotly anticipated return of Kim Cattrall as the iconic Samantha Jones. We all knew she was coming back for a cameo after being so noticeably absent in the Sex And The City reboot, we just didn’t know what that would look like. And while there will always be people who feel as though it wasn’t enough or were somehow disappointed, Kim Cattrall did ad-lib one absolutely perfect moment for her fans. Because she knows how much her character has meant to us.
In the Season 2 finale, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets a phone call from Samantha, who is living in London. She apologizes for not being able to make it to Carrie’s “Last Supper” being held at her apartment because of a flight issue, but asks to be put on speaker phone to say goodbye to the apartment herself. “Thank you for everything, you f**king fabulous flat.” After hanging up with Carrie, Samantha kisses the screen of her phone and presses it against her chest with an emotional smile.
This lovely moment that felt like a sweet nod to her fans was all Cattrall’s idea, according to And Just Like That... show-runner Michael Patrick King. “Then the phone call's over and something amazing happens after they say goodbye,” King recounted on the podcast And Just Like That… The Writers Room, “which is Samantha kisses the phone.”
Another writer on the podcast explained that the moment was “not in the script” and King went on to share, “It's just totally a moment of an actor playing the moment and it's really nice.”
The writers of And Just Like That... wanted to give the sense that the four original friends including Carrie, Samantha, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) were all still friends. Even if Samantha lives across the ocean and Cattrall has made it abundantly clear that she will not be returning as a series regular. “My goal, for us, was to have Carrie pick up her phone and look at it, see the word Samantha, and have the audience's head blow off,” King said on the podcast. “When it comes around the sentimentality of something called 'The Last Supper,' it's hard to not imagine that Samantha would've gotten a call from Charlotte and Miranda saying, 'Hey, Carrie's doing the last supper and this time it's real. She's leaving this apartment.’”
And so as Carrie leaves her apartment, Samantha Jones (presumably) leaves us, her fans, for good. And she did it with a kiss goodbye for us all.
I’d become increasingly aware that my constant “10 more minutes until [insert dreaded activity here]” warnings were failing to land with my 5-year-old, not just because he didn’t want to stop playing, but also because time is abstract and meaningless to him. As far as he was concerned, these endless daily warnings were arbitrary, entirely made up by me to ruin his day, and — worst of all — open to debate.
I’d heard from trusted parent-friends that visual timers can be especially helpful for kids with attention struggles, autism or ADHD, as well as for little kids who simply can’t tell time yet. And at just over $20, investing in one felt pretty low-stakes. Plus, the Time Timer MOD Home Edition is colorful and cute, and an inoffensive thing to add to a shelf in a kids’ room. So, with a big old “why not?” after one particularly trying bedtime, I added yet another thing that’s supposed to make parenting easier to my cart.
It took a while to get the hang of using it in the most helpful ways, but it does really help to have one of these around. I reach for it daily to level the playing field when conversations about timing arise with my kid — “Yep, you’ve got 15 more minutes until we need to go to swim class. I’ll show you on the timer!” — and to help keep all of us in sync in a way that still feels pretty chill. No more blaring phone alarms, or screaming, “Time’s up!”
Sizes: Time Timer brand makes many simple, visual timers in various sizes and colors, but the MOD Home Edition only comes in one size: 3.5" x 3.5".
Colors: Lake Day Blue, Dreamsicle Orange, Cotton Ball White, Pale Shale, Peony Pink, and Fern Green.
Who it’s for: Anyone, but it’s really helpful for kids who don’t yet know how to tell time or read a clock.
When to use: Bath time, bedtime, play time, TV time — use it to time anything your kid will need to stop doing after a certain number of minutes.
Pro-tip: I prefer to use it with the alarm sound off, so it’s not jarring at all. Instead, it just quietly runs out of time, giving a gentle visual signal that it’s time to move on to the next thing.
The specs: How a visual timer makes parenting a little easier
Time Timer suggests many, many uses for their colorful little visual timers, and I think every family will probably end up using it in slightly different ways depending on your kids’ ages and some trial and error. One of my favorite uses for the timer is as a way to say “yes” to things that we barely have time for but I know my kid is dying to do. For example, let’s say it’s bath time — actually, we should have been in the tub 20 minutes ago. But, he’s begging for some play time and I’ve barely seen him today so I say, “Yes, I’d love nothing more than to play an elaborate pretend game involving 137 Hot Wheels and your doctor kit! It’s almost bath time though, so we only have a few minutes.”
Before the Time Timer, I would have probably tried to set an alarm on my phone to keep us both on track for bedtime. Or, if I didn’t do that — because phone alarms are really annoying and ruin the vibe when you’re trying to be all present with your child — I would accidentally spend 30 minutes goofing around with Hot Wheels. Suddenly bath time, and therefore bedtime, are way off track.
With a Time Timer in our life, we both do a little better. In this example, I don’t even need to know what time it is — I already know that it’s bath time. I grab the Time Timer and decide we get 5 minutes. I set it, show him that we’ve got all that time to play before tub, and we play. As we quietly play, I glance at it occasionally, and when I see it’s run out, I point that out to him.
But the most surprisingly lovely use for the timer I’ve found is how I use it for myself. Even when we’re not in a time crunch, I’ll often set it for myself as a simple visual reminder that keeps me on track without needing to glance at a screen when I’m with my kids.
Other ways to use a visual timer with kids
There are probably endless uses for the Time Timer, but here are a few ideas for using a visual timer at home to help get everyone on the same page and keep transitions as smooth as possible. Use it to:
Manage screen time.
Visualize homework time, and help kids work in focused, timed blocks.
Help grown-ups stay on schedule without having to check phones.
Give a group of kids a shared, visual heads-up about when a playdate is going to end.
The results
I hoped the Time Timer would give context to the things I say all the time that are meaningless and frustrating to a kid who asks “how many tens that is” when I say bedtime isn’t for two more hours. It absolutely does that — “20 minutes until tub time” actually means something now. My kid can see the time set as I twist the little knob and a portion of the circle colors in, and can watch it run out as the color disappears until the whole circle is white again.
A surprisingly nice thing about using a visual timer to communicate with your kid about what to expect is that it also outsources the blame a bit, or it feels that way to me at least. It hasn’t been 10 minutes because I said it’s been 10 minutes. Instead, we can see together that the color on the Time Timer has run out. It’s not yet another thing I’m telling him that feels arbitrary — like having to wear socks or not pick his nose. Instead, it’s rooted in a simple, shared visual that we often set together.
Pros & cons
Pros:
It helps my kid understand, visually, what it really means when I say “five minutes until bath time.”
It helps me stay on track with bedtime routines.
I have been known to use it as a kitchen timer, too.
You can turn the alarm sound on or off depending on your preference.
Cons:
It’s not magic. On the hardest days, getting into the tub (and then out again) is still a battle, whether or not the timer has run out.
My child can monkey with it. Occasionally in fits of fury, he’ll run over and add more time, which sort of defeats the purpose. I usually just put it out of reach at that point, but it did make my whole effort feel a little silly.
It runs on a AA battery, so keep a package handy.
The TL;DR
We use this inexpensive little device in more ways than I ever expected, and it’s certainly worth the low-level investment. It’s a handy tool for little kids and the grown-ups who are just trying to get everyone in bed by a reasonable hour so they have have a little time to themselves.
Had To Sharehighlights the products and finds that Romper editors and contributors love so much, we just had to share in the group chat.
John Stamos can’t quite believe his luck these days. He feels blessed to still know the Olsen twins nearly 40 years after meeting them as babies when they were first cast to play Michelle Tanner on Full House, especially now that one of those twins is a mom herself. Stamos took to Instagram to share a sweet message of congratulations with Ashley Olsen on the birth of her first baby, and it was a lovely trip down memory lane with Uncle Jessie.
Olsen and her husband, artist Louis Eisner, welcomed their first baby, a little boy named Otto, several months ago. The famously private couple have not shared any images of their little boy or indeed any details on his birth, but it didn’t stop their friends from celebrating their new arrival. Like Stamos, who is a dad himself to 5-year-old son Billy with wife Caitlyn McHugh Stamos. On Thursday, he shared a beautiful throwback video of twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen as little girls.
“Watching Mary-Kate and Ashley grow into the incredibly bright and remarkable women they are today has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” he wrote in the caption. “If you would have told me those blue-eyed babies I met on set nearly 40 years ago would still be in my life at 60 years old, I wouldn’t have believed you. I am blessed. Congratulations to Ashley and her husband, Louis, who welcomed their baby boy last week.”
As Uncle Jesse on Full House, Stamos took great pride in remaining close to his castmates over the years. He and the late Bob Saget enjoyed a decades-long friendship that Stamos compared to being like an “old married couple” in Saget’s eulogy at his 2022 funeral, and that affection appears to have extended to the Olsen twins.
Stamos isn’t the only former Full House cast member to congratulate Olsen and Eisner. Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner, and Andrea Barber, who played Kimmy Gibbler, took to their Full House-themed podcast How Rude, Tanneritos to share their congratulations with the new mom as well. “I just heard this this morning that Ashley Olsen had a baby,” Barber said. “That blows my mind!”
“The baby had a baby. I’m sorry, I know she’s not a baby, she’s a 37-year-old woman,” Sweetin responded. “I realize that. But it’s like when the youngest member of your family has a kid all of a sudden you’re like ‘Oh my gosh it’s happening!’”
As a celebrity mom and wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Brittany Mahomes is unfortunately subjected to a whole lot of rumors and comments about her personal life. It must be exhausting, yet she always seems to handle it with grace. Even when there are rumors circulating about the possibility that she is pregnant. The mom of two took to Instagram recently for a Q&A and addressed pregnancy rumors that have apparently been circulating. And it’s a big N-O from her.
Mahomes, who shares 2-year-old daughter Sterling and 8-month-old baby boy Bronze with her husband, took to Instagram to answer a few questions from her followers because her “kids are asleep early so ask away!”
One question specifically about whether or not she was getting ready to have another baby. “So you aren’t pregnant now?” the fan asked. “I’m asking for my cousin who is trying to convince me that you are.”
Instead of getting upset or even offended, Mahomes simply responded, “I’m not really sure where this rumor started but no, I’m not pregnant.”
So that hopefully puts that rumor to rest.
The mom of two has her hands full right now with her little ones, so it certainly makes sense that she might not yet be ready to add to her brood. She recently took to Instagram to give fans a peek at her potty training journey with daughter Sterling, sharing her recommendation about a potty training hack that did not turn out as well as she hoped. Namely letting her daughter have “things” on the potty with her that turned out to act as more of a distraction than anything else.
She has also been trying to get in pilates classes while pumping breast milk for son Bronze, and has been working on growing her hair back after struggling with the all-too-common pregnancy hormone hair loss that left her with “hormone bangs,” as she wrote on an Instagram Story.
In short, she’s extremely busy with two little ones and focusing on her life as a family of four. Which doesn’t mean she might not get pregnant in the future but... she’s simply not pregnant right now. So let’s not make assumptions.
Bluey really is the kids’ show that just keeps giving. From laughter to tears, it’s inspired families to play... and also to come up with a seemingly never-ending slew of fan theories, some profound, some silly but fun, others downright “slanderous.” Recently, some fans have come up with a new Bluey theory that involves their own canine companions, suggesting that actual dogs love Bluey because it’s animated in dog-friendly colors.
First, you need to know a little bit of dog biology — something I did not think I would ever need in a professional capacity much less when broadly discussing cartoon dogs, but here we are. According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), while it was believed for many years that dogs were completely colorblind and viewed the world in black and white, more recently scientists have determined that the number of rods and cones (light-sensing cells in the eyes) show that canines are dichromatic, aka able to see a limited spectrum of two primary colors — yellow and blue. These adaptations made them very good at seeing movement in low-light, but seeing the precise hue of your favorite red lipstick or purple dress? Not so much.
But this brings us back to Bluey who, you may notice, is (as her name and breed suggest) blue. So is her dad, Bandit, Uncle Stripe, grandma Chris, grandpa Bob, and cousin Socks. Her mom and sister are red heelers, but are colored a soft, yellow-y orange. The Heeler family is, in fact, two colors that dogs can see pretty accurately.
This has left some dog owning Bluey fans positively shook.
“It took me 5 years to realize bluey the TV show is made in dog vision colors,” TikTok user @asheleyspam wrote. “Your dog can watch too.”
They’re not the only one to remark on this phenomenon. “Anyone else notice the Bluey characters are all already dog vision colors?” asks @thats_so_katie_. “Your dog can watch it too.”
Even the outlet Reel Rundown remarked “the Bluey team seems to have taken this into account and the main four (including many other characters), are colored in shades not only indicative of their respective dog breeds, but are also easily viewable by canine companions everywhere.”
I found an Instagram filter called PetVision to confirm and it’s true that Bandit and Bluey appear almost exactly the same to dogs as to people. Ditto Chilli and Bingo (albeit a little bit washed out).
Looking pretty familiar.
But as thoughtful and detailed oriented as the fine folks who make Bluey are: I’m not buying this theory at all. Yes the main characters are rendered in colors that read pretty much the same for humans and dogs. But, like most children’s shows, it relies on a lot of bold, primary colors... of which dogs can see two out of three so this is perhaps less “incredible hidden detail” as it is “unremarkable coincidence.”
This theory also breaks down once you move past scenes that include any non-blue or yellow-ish characters or settings. For example, Coco the poodle is pink, Rusty (wearing a hat) is red, and the scene shown here from the episode “Keepy Uppy” is full of lush greens and bright reds...
But perhaps most importantly: dogs don’t know what colors they’re not seeing any more than you don’t know what smells you’re not smelling that they can. So they’re not watching Bluey and thinking “OMG! It’s so different than the rest of the world.” This is how they see everything.
So... no. Your dog doesn’t like Bluey because it’s in dog-friendly colors. They like Bluey for the same reasons we do: the heartfelt but hilarious story-first approach that poignantly explores childhood and modern parenting. (We assume.)
Matthew McConaughey’s mom Mary McCabe did not exactly make the best first impression on his wife Camila Alves. When the actor started dating Alves in 2006 after meeting her at a nightclub, he went on to introduce her to his family. And right out of the gate, as Alves shared in a recent interview, McConaughey’s mom tested her in ways that got under her skin. For good reason.
Alves sat down for a chat with Southern Living’sBiscuits & Jam podcast and shared a little background about her relationship with her mother-in-law. “She did all these things when I first came in the picture, right? And she was really testing me. I mean, really testing me,” she explained. “She would call me by all of Matthew’s ex-girlfriends’ names, she would start speaking Spanish with me in a very broken way, kind of putting down a bit. I mean, all kinds of stuff.”
Keep in mind, McConaughey’s mom famously lied to her son when he didn’t win Little Mr. Texas as a child and gave him a trophy and everything, so it is perhaps unsurprising that she was protective. Although calling her by his ex-girlfriends’ names and speaking in broken Spanish is clearly too far.
Fortunately, Alves shared that the two women eventually found their way to a closer relationship after a trip to Istanbul together. The mom of three realized that all her mother-in-law wanted was “for me to fight back,” she explained. “And then from that day on, that night on, we have the most amazing relationship, and I have so much respect for her. She has so much respect for me. I mean, it can get tricky sometimes, you know? But we always end with a good laugh and a joke.”
Which is a good thing considering McConaughey and Alves have been married since 2012 and are raising 15-year-old son Levi, 13-year-old daughter Vida, and 10-year-old son Livingston together. Grandchildren she was happy to quarantine with in Texas in 2020, she told Red Table Talk at the time. “I'm enjoying so much being around my grandchildren. I'm very comfortable with them,” McCabe said. “Matthew is a very good son. I tell him that all the time. He's good to me.”
And while they got off to a tough start, Alves credits McConaughey’s mom with passing down some of her husband’s best traits. “She’s very organized, very minimalistic, very on time, very prepared,” she said on the same podcast interview, “and he gets a lot of those traits from her.”
