Baby Tree: April 2016

Saturday, 30 April 2016

Parents! You need to steal Chrissy Teigen's newborn trick

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Have you seen Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's baby girl Luna yet? If not, pop on over to the model mama's Instagram. She is just beautiful!

The latest photo shared by the new mom shows little Luna - who goes by the nickname Lulu - reclining in her baby bathtub.

"bath time is tooooo cute! my heart, it hurts," Chrissy captioned the sweet shot. (See it here!)

It's hard to disagree. I mean, what is cuter than a tiny baby in a bathtub? Nothing!

Unless that baby is screaming her little head off, of course. The piercing sounds of a newborn's wails cut down on the adorable factor somewhat. While it's generally thought that all babies love bath time, I can provide first hand testimony that that is not actually the case. My little girl couldn't stand it, she cried the entire time.

Then, when she was around three weeks old I had a postpartum doula visit the home, and she shared a simple baby bath tip that proved to be a lifesaver. Rather than submerge your newborn in the tub naked, wrap her in a receiving blanket and lower her in that way.

This doesn't seem like rocket science, but what a difference it made for us!

First of all, soapy, wet babies are slippery. Really slippery. The blanket gives you something sturdy to hold onto so your little one won't slide out of your grasp.

Beyond that, the blanket seemed to give my baby a sense of security, I assume that's because she wasn't entirely exposed to the water and the cool air. All I know for sure is that once we started using this technique bath time got a lot happier for both of us.

When I looked at Chrissy Teigen's bath pic, the first thing I noticed wasn't Luna's gorgeous little face, it was the baby blanket lying submerged at the bottom of the tub. Obviously the new mom is already in on this particular parenting tip!

Do you have a newborn tip to share?

Which celebrities are expecting babies? Take a look!

Photo: REX USA

Ryan Reynolds' emotional tribute to young fan who died of cancer

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Ryan Reynolds' Facebook feed is normally home to funny photos and self-deprecating posts, but this week the actor used social media to share a very heartfelt message with his fans and followers.

The soon-to-be dad-of-two wrote a touching tribute to a boy named Connor McGrath. Connor was 13 years old, and he happened to be a huge Deadpool fan. He also had cancer, and while he "drop kicked" the disease for three years, he sadly passed away earlier this week.

Ryan writes that he met Connor, who lives in Alberta, Canada, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and reveals that the two formed a strong and genuine friendship.

"Connor was 13. But this kid... He was smart. He was funny. And not just funny 'for a kid' - or funny 'for a person battling something awful'. He was unqualified funny. He had that... thing....

It was the Make-A-Wish Foundation that brought us together. I can't thank them enough. Seriously. Thank you. Because of his wish, Connor was the first person to see Deadpool. I traveled up to Edmonton, Alberta to surprise him with a rough cut of the film. There were still huge sections with wires we hadn't yet painted out, jokes which weren't working (and still aren't) and green screens. Connor didn't seem to mind. And I'd never felt luckier to get to be Wade Wilson.

***Before you jump down my throat for showing a 13 year old an R-Rated film, please know this kid knew more swear words than a British chef....

I'm grateful I got to orbit Connor's world for a brief time. Grateful for the pages and pages of hilarious texts between us. Grateful to his parents for allowing Connor to spend time with a foul-mouthed child in the body of a 39 year old.

I called Connor, 'Bubba'. And he called me 'Bubba2'. We met because he loved Deadpool. In a certain sense he WAS Deadpool. Or, at least everything Deadpool aspires to be; balancing pain, fearlessness, love and a filthy (filthy!) sense of humor in one body. I wish he could've stuck around a lot longer."

Connor sounds like a really great kid. To say that my heart goes out to his family seems far too little, far too commonplace a sentiment. But it truly does.

Hollywood seems like another world most of the time, and the celebrities who make their living there often come across as caricatures. The sincerity of Ryan Reynolds' tribute to his young friend is crystal clear, though. You can tell that their relationship meant a lot to him.

The actor ends his post with a request for support for the organization that brought him and Bubba together in the first place: "If you'd like to donate to The Make-A-Wish Foundation, I can pretty much guarantee, your money's going to a damn good place. These people do not suck. They are heroic. Full stop. http://makeawishna.ca/wishes/donate."

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