Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy is a disease that rapidly deteriorates the muscles, making a person weak and unable to hold his own body weight. For most children, life expectancy is only to the teens or early twenties. Children, like Tanner, often need around the clock care as they are no longer able to move their own bodies because of the loss of muscle. This deterioration, is what pushed Catherine to work to raise money for Tanner and his mother.

As Tanner’s situation becomes worse, it becomes obvious that he will need more care than he could get at home. Feeling that the thought of him spending his last moments in a hospital rather than at home, Catherine began a campaign to have her sister’s home remodeled so that Tanner could stay home and still receive the care that he needs.

What began as a desire to run a marathon for Tanner, as Tanner’s mother does, grew into Tutus For Tanner. Raising awareness about Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, as well as raising money to help build up Tanner’s home, the cause grew and spread as more and more people heard about it and wanted to help. The most recent help came as women lined up to run and walk in a 5K while wearing tutus in New York City during the BlogHer conference. Tutus for Tanner became widely visible as people who had never met Tanner, his mother, or Catherine, donated to make sure he could be at home during his final days.

Now, well over their goal, Catherine has not stopped yet. She is still working to raise awareness of Muscular Dystrophy and raise funds to help other families in the same situation. She urges donations to MD Canada, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, or Make A Wish Foundation so that other families can receive help, support, and a chance to enjoy precious memories together. – Summer, Staff Writer

{PHOTOCREDIT: JUSTINHACKWORTH}

Each of the three styles of crib converts easily to a toddler bed and also has a matching change table. The pod features rounded ends for a super-modern look and clear acrylic sides to allow mom and dad a better look at the sleeping tot. Star shaped cutouts in the acrylic sides allow for airflow, but are small enough not to trap little fingers. The nifty clear and nifty timber share the same basic 1950’s inspired minimalist design. The difference in the two is that the nifty clear has the same clear acrylic sides featured in the pod, whereas the nifty timber has wooden slats. Nifty furniture with a retro edge…very cool. 

Eco-conscious parents will love that all of the timber used to make Ubabub’s nursery collection has been sourced from renewable plantations that use non-toxic finishes. The mattress is hypoallergenic
treated, anti-bacterial, anti dust mites, anti-mould and anti-mildew.

For safety, all of the cribs featured are fixed sides for ‘optimum structural integrity and safety’.

Ubabub has plans to someday expand from Australia into the international market. Something definitely worth keeping your eyes open for! – Belinda, Staff Writer

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The day before the arrival of their first baby the parents-to-be, who wish to remain anonymous, found out that they won a half a million dollars. The husband was the first to find out but hesitated to tell his wife for fear that her excitement would cause her to go into labor early.

“When I checked my tickets and found out I was a big winner I went home straight away and told my wife and she started screaming. I thought she might suddenly give birth then and there! The baby ended up arriving early the next day, and I managed to fit in my flight to Wellington to collect our winnings after I knew mum and baby were safe”.

The new parents plan to purchase their first home then use the rest of their winnings to comfortably live off of during their maternity leave.

“It’s really nice to think we can become debt free and now purchase a home for our growing family, as we have always rented”.

Once the proud father arrived at NZ Lotteries in Wellington, he was presented with a bottle of champagne and a check for half a million dollars.

He plans to share his winnings with his family, however, since his wife is currently not drinking alcohol he is looking forward to enjoying the celebratory bottle of champagne all by himself. – Jeff, Staff Writer

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This modern addition is both practical and sharp looking. Designed for children from newborn to age 3 or 33lbs, the highpod’s easy-seat adaptability grows with your child.

Out of the box there is very little needed to do to get going. I just connected the two frames together and flipped the seat up and it was ready for lunch!

I love this highchair. Initially, when I put it together, I was concerned that the seat may not be big enough for my healthy 2-year-old. But my concern changed to happiness when my son climbed in and fit perfectly. Not to be outdone, my oldest who is small for his age (5), also climbed in. He also fit perfectly, which was also a bit of a surprise.

To keep your child comfortable phil & ted’s uses a unique aerocore injection moulded seat that is shaped much like an egg. This genius design is perfect for keeping your little one snug and secure at dinnertime. Having my youngest tucked in nicely has prevented him from spinning around and working his way out when my back is turned. It is also great for when your messy little eater get’s dirty the whole seat can be easily removed and thrown in the dishwasher or hosed off. I also love that it is a smooth surface that doesn’t have any crevices to hide food. This is, by far, my favourite feature of this highchair. Nothing is more frustrating that having to spend 10 minutes after each meal searching for hidden food and should lunch get caked onto the harness it is also easy to remove for cleaning or to adjust as your child gets bigger. It’s nice to not have to worry about the fabric fading or tearing because there isn’t any!

To prevent meals or snacks from getting too far out of your child’s reach, phil & ted’s has designed the tray in an oval shape. At just 13.5″w by 10.5″ l, the tray is a bit small, but parents who feel they need something bigger, can add the optional larger tray($30) over your existing one.

The highpod’s ability to fully recline makes it perfect to accommodate a sleepy infant. As your child grows, the seat can be adjusted one-handed, to suit their preferences. Because we now like to have my son sit right up to the table without the tray, this has been nice as it is the middle position is the perfect height for our table.

Also included with the seat is a lumbar jack cushion insert for use with small babies. This cushion helps push them forward slightly-closer to the tray, and gives them the assistance they need to get their little legs over the edge of the highchair where they can reach the adjustable highheels foot rest. This is significant because babies that can rest their feet, are able to adjust their weight while seated, keeping them more comfortable, and seated for a longer period of time.

The phil & ted’s highpod is perfect for any household. When designing it they really listened to parents and incorporated many great features that make feeding a child easy. It is designed to fit any interior, cleans up quickly and is easy to use. Something sleep deprived parents will appreciate. – Lisa, Editor

* Thank you to phil & ted’s for providing us with a sample for review*

A spirited Suri kept everyone on their toes as she ran around the park, climbed on the cement walls and slid down the pole.


The always energetic Tom kept up with her and then carried her to the car when she ran out of steam.

The family, who is in NYC while Katie promotes her new movie ‘The Romantics’, was later spotted shopping at FAO Schwartz.

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 {PACIFIC COAST NEWS}

School is back in session and parents are hoping to see their children excel.  To that end, a growing trend in the United States has a lot of parents ‘redshirting’ their little ones by enrolling them in kindergarten a year later than expected.

It is thought that kids with birthdays approaching the age cut-off will experience a disadvantage because of their comparative lack of maturity.  By starting kids a year later, they go from being the youngest in the class to the oldest and from being the smallest on the sports field to being one of the biggest.

The term ‘redshirting’ is taken from college sports and the idea that by benching an athlete for a season you can extend their eligibility.

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell addresses the concerns behind redshirting, by referencing a study conducted by economists Kelly Bedard and Elizabeth Dhuey.  They found that in the early grades, maturity was mistaken for ability and so the more advanced streams of academics are loaded up with the older kids in the class.

According to Gladwell, “That initial difference in maturity doesn’t go away with time.  It persists. And for thousands of students, that initial disadvantage is the difference between going to college…or not.

Dhuey and Bedard found that the youngest age cohort is under-represented by about 11.6 percent at four-year colleges in the United States.

Experts and economists are sceptical about the benefits of redshirting however and fear that the costs may out way the gains.

Daren Lubotsky, an economist at University of Illinois has studied redshirting and feels, “The trend seems to be to have kids start later without much thought to the cost versus the benefits.  There might be some benefits, but there’s a really big cost to kids starting later.”

By delaying a child’s start to school there are economic costs at both the front and back end.  Parents have the expense of an extra year of childcare and the child is delayed in reaching the workforce.

Never-the-less, in recent years there has been a rise in the trend, with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reporting that between 1993 and 1995 about nine percent of kindergarteners were registered a year late.  A 2007 report, by the NCES, found that about 14 percent of parents were planning to delay their child’s entry into school.

It all makes sense.  A child that was born in October, November or December is theoretically 10 months behind their classmates.  By delaying their entrance into school, they will be with kids that are more their size and those who are at the same maturity level as them, which could set them up for success. – Jen R., Staff Writer

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The Step2 ® Sand & Water Transportation Station is a standalone play station for children ages two and up. The toy station consists of: a round blue plastic table, including train tracks, train cars in blue, red and yellow, toy sailboats and a hand rake/shovel. A red Step2 logo decal is on the side of the table. Train cars with grey wheels are not included in this recall. 

Consumers should immediately take the train cars away from children and contact Step2 at (800) 347-8372 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.step2.com for free replacement cars. 

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During their spin around the city, Kingston and Zuma got their faces painted in Central Park.   Kingston is cute as Spiderman, while Zuma played it coy as Batman.

Even though Gwen owns every luxury stroller on the planet including the custom made 2010 Bee that Zuma is in, she still pushes Kingston in a no frills cheapie. Convenience over beauty? 

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The British singer, who expects her first child with boyfriend Sam Cooper, tweeted, 

“Its ELLE magazine’s 25th birthday issue this month. There’s a party tonight to celebrate but I can’t go. Sorry ELLE .  Its the premiere for my mum’s film Tamara Drewe, so I’m going there instead.”

Aftering suffering a miscarriage in January 2008, Lily recently revealed she “lived in fear” during the early stages of this pregnancy. 

“I came off the pill and, weirdly, a week later it happened. But then it was really difficult – I had complications,” Lily told the Daily Record. “I had about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding and had to have lots of scans. I’ve been living in fear for the past three months.”

Lily is believed to be almost 5 months along so hopefully she is now able to enjoy her pregnancy without worrying about the baby.

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