Last fall, Angelina Jolie tried to adopt a baby boy named Gleb from a Russian orphanage. Apparently this angered Russian Nationalists and the adoption fell through. At the time, referring to Gleb she said, "I was going to adopt this other child in Russia, but it didn't work out, so I may adopt another in about six months." True to her word, she recently adopted a 5-month-old Ethiopian baby girl who was orphaned due to the death of both her parents from AIDS. So what happened to Gleb? Evidently he is now 16-months-old and still residing at the same Russian orphanage.

The July 4th issue of Newsweek Magazine's International Edition says that, "The Russian government has become embroiled in a bitter argument over adoptions by foreigners. As the discussion drags on, the number of adoptions is falling." In fact Russian adoptions have fallen two thirds from last year. They also reported that "Yekaterina Lakhova, the head of the Duma's Women, Family and Youth Affairs Committee, called foreign adoptions 'trafficking' and demanded that all foreign adoptions be banned."

There are over 260,000 Russian orphans, including Gleb, caught in this bureaucratic war while waiting to be adopted, and according to The Moscow News, "there is no great demand among Russian families to adopt." Doesn't seem right does it?

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Kathryn Berrisford an Embryologist at a fertility clinic in England also suffered from infertility; she had four miscarriages in 18 months. Her boss Dr George Ndukwe, clinical director of Nottingham's CARE fertility clinic, suggested immune therapy to help her not only conceive a child, but also carry the baby to term. He said, "it was heartbreaking to watch Mrs Berrisford helping so many couples while suffering the trauma of losing four babies."

Because she and her husband carried similar antigens in their blood, "her body was not producing the blocking antibodies to provide a protective blanket around the embryo and prevent the baby from being rejected."

Two weeks ago, she gave birth to her first child that she and her husband Joss named Mae. She said, "It was like a miracle because when you have really thought that you can't have a child of your own and to be in despair about it, to actually then get it is amazing." She added, "Mae is the best thing that ever happened to me."

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Christine and Matthew Rowe first had identical twin girls and are now the parents of identical triplet boys - all without fertility drugs. Doctors say that the chances of this happening naturally are 1-in-15 million.

Two years ago Lexxie and Haylee were born and recently their baby brothers Nicholas, Tyler and Jacob were born. "I'm actually feeling really good," said Christine Rowe, "I don't think the adrenaline has worn off yet from having the babies. So I'm holding in there." Her husband, however, added "We're done," and she agreed.

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On May 14, 11-year-old Katie Brownell pitched a perfect game while playing Little League baseball for the Dodgers in upstate New York. Not only did she pitch a perfect game, all 18 outs in the game were strike-outs and none of the batters even reached a full count - she struck out every single batter she faced. Wow.

Yesterday, her number 3 Dodgers jersey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. "We're honored to be receiving Katie's jersey," said Jeff Idelson, vice president of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "Katie's accomplishment helps to further illustrate that you don't have to be a male to be a team leader in baseball."

Chris Downs, media relations manager of Little League Baseball and Softball, said that girls have been playing Little League since 1974, and "As we've been able to review the records, we think she's the only girl to throw a perfect game." Congratulations Katie.

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Live8 Insider just posted this picture of Gywneth Paltrow and Apple watching the Coldplay set in London. The lead singer from Coldplay, Chris Martin, is Apple's daddy.

Apple is wearing a cute pair of noise reducing headphones that seem to fit her perfectly. I did a search on several search engines to find these headphones for my son and I can't find them. (The last time we took a plane trip, we sat right next to the engines.)

Anyone have any idea where to buy them?

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Jack and Brian this Spring

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We are almost in the middle of 2005 and so far no babies have been born in Florida with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. This is the first time since the AIDS epidemic started 20 years ago that Florida has gone this far into the year without recording a case of mother-to-baby transmission of HIV. Health Secretary John Agwunobi said this shows that more pregnant women are getting tested for HIV and that antiretroviral drugs used during pregnancy and childbirth are working.

The CDC doesn't have current figures on nationwide mother-to-baby transmission of HIV but a spokesperson said that in 2000 the figure was down 80% from its peak in the 1990's.

"Everybody who deals with pediatric HIV or HIV in general is very excited about this," said Dr. Catherine Lamprecht, pediatric medical director of the Hug-Me Program at Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, which treats children and adults with AIDS. I am really excited about this as well. I worked at Arnold Palmer in the '90s as a pediatric nurse and it was heartbreaking working with pediatric HIV babies and kids.

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In yesterday's New York Post there was a short paragraph mentioning that Laurie Berkner was going to perform on the "Today" show. The Post says she'll be performing on June 29th, but I am on her mailing list and they say it's June 27th at 8:30am - so double check if you plan to go. One thing I didn't know until I read the Post's blurb was that she is starring in a new Noggin series this fall.

A not so quick series of Google searches lead me to a Viacom press release from early April. Noggin is premiering a new show called "Jack's Big Music Show" this fall and each of the 13 episodes will feature a music video performance by Laurie. The show will be hosted by a puppet named Jack and will showcase his musical friends who hang out at his tree house.

"Jack's is something we've wanted to make for years...it's like TRL for preschoolers," said Amy Friedman, Senior Vice President, Development/Creative Director, Nickelodeon Digital Television. "We are proud that Noggin will be the new homebase for these outstanding recording artists and their smart, warm and silly songs that both kids and parents adore."

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In May, four month pregnant Monique Mitchell was held in contempt of court and jailed for three days after she called in sick to jury duty. The 21-year-old was taken from her home to jail while still in her nightgown. On Monday, Cook County Circuit Judge Preston Bowie apologized to the woman and dismissed the contempt charge. He further stated that he should have summoned her to a hearing to see if she was truly in contempt of court before jailing her. Ironically, the case Mitchell was to be a jurist on was declared a mistrial.

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Nick Records/Sony BMG Music Entertainment is releasing the first-ever collection of songs from The Backyardigans. The CD will feature many of the favorite songs from the series and will be available July 12th.

In addition, on Monday July 18th at 11am, Nick Jr., is premiering a new Backyardigans special "Race to the Tower of Power." Each Backyardigans show features a different musical genre from broadway to jazz. The genre of this special is salsa and it features four original new songs. Pablo and Tyrone play super-villains who want to rule the world (notice the black masks) and Uniqua and Austin play superheroes who try to stop them. 

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Maddie, a two-year-old black lab, refused to obey his owner Ron Lobey's come command and instead began to make a "weird bark." Maddie was barking weird because Sammy, Lobey's two-year-old son, had wandered off and fallen into a pond. When Lobey found his son he was face up in the water but still submerged. He performed CPR on Sammy, reviving the him and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Not only did Maddie get help for Sammy, emergency crews believe she tried to rescue the child herself. Apparently it is very rare to find a drowning victim in the water face-up. What a good dog!

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We TiVo all our shows in my household. Actually we have two TiVo's, the original 13 hour one and the 40 hour DirectTV one. (Once you have one you really can't watch TV without it.) So a few days ago, I finally saw the ER episode called "Refusal of Care" which aired on April 21st. 

At the end of this episode, after a very chaotic day in the ER, Dr. Lewis was talking to her toddler son Cosmo on the phone. At his insistence, she recited from memory the book "Hippos Go Berserk!"

The next day Jack and I were at Barnes & Noble playing with trains and I found the book. I read it for him and we ended up buying it. It's now his favorite book. He wants me to read it to him all the time. It has replaced, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." Pretty impressive.

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On Monday, MSNBC speculated that Britney Spears may be having a baby girl after she was seen purchasing designer baby clothes at Hollywood's trendy Petit Tresor. She bought infant girl clothing, as well as accessories, in sizes newborn to 12 months. "I don't think it was a present for someone else," said their source, "She was buying a lot."

A representative for the store confirmed the story but said Spears didn't say if the clothes were for her baby or a gift for someone else, and no one asked her.

Interesting, very interesting.

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"Lotsa de Casha," Madonna's fifth children's book in 18 months, was released this week. It's moral: Money doesn't buy happiness. Although each book has featured a different illustrator, this time it's Portuguese artist Rui Paes, she says all the books have the same message - "Nothing is what is seems." You can hear a two and a half minute clip of Madonna reading from her new book (with a slight British accent) on Amazon.

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It's a nice purse idea for a proud grandma too. Thanks to Egami, grandma doesn't have to pull out her "brag book," it's right there.

Luxist says, "The bags are trimmed in leather and come in a wide variety of styles. The image can be cropped, tinted or colorwashed for a unique look." The imaged side of the bag is also waterproof and scratch proof. I guess for all that money it should be.

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TV Squad reported Friday that Henry Corden, the voice of Fred Flintstone for more than two decades, died at the age of 85 from emphysema. He was actually Fred's second voice. Alan Reed was the voice of Fred Flintstone in the original TV show which debuted in 1960 and continued to voice him until his death in '77.

Corden's longtime agent Don Pitts said that since "The Flintstones" echoed "The Honeymooners," Corden tweaked his voice to approximate Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden. Corden can most recently be heard on the Cocoa Pebbles commercial airing now yelling, "Barney, my Pebbles!"

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As part of his "Year of the Healthy Child" agenda, U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., recently released a dozen tips to help keep toddlers safe and healthy.  

1. Teach healthy eating

2. Begin a habit of good oral health

3. Don't smoke or allow others to smoke around your child

4. Give positive feedback to your children

5. Always use a car safety seat

6. Safety-proof your house

7. Never leave your child unattended

8. Make sure your child has a primary care provider

9. Fully immunize your child

10. Learn first aid and CPR

11. Practice prevention and safety

12. Have fun, but if you become overwhelmed, ask for help

The United States Department of Health and Human Services press release offers more detailed information and additional links for each tip.

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Sarah posted Friday that preschools expel students three times more than grade schools.  Not only wasn't I aware that preschools expelled students (and at such a high rate), I also wasn't aware that only two preschool programs in the entire United States have a policy against expelling preschoolers.

Kentucky has a statewide philosophy against expelling preschoolers, making it the only state in the nation that prohibits expelling preschoolers. Hawaii's state-funded Head Start program is the only other program that prevents expulsion, however, Hawaii has two preschool programs. The other program, Hawaii Preschool Open Doors, does allow expulsion.

Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education said, "It's part of our belief that education is key. If you set kids up to fail early, they'll continue to fail." Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.

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Pregnant at 14 and in junior high, she transferred into the Young Parent Program and "formed a student group, organized activities - such as a teacher appreciation day - and became involved with the Early Head Start leadership council." In fact she and her son Nathan flew to Baltimore last year to attend a national conference for the federal program. Also this month, former Utah Gov. Olene Walker presented Harris with an award to recognize the daily reading she does with her son. In addition to raising Nathan and attending high school, she has a 30-hour-plus a week cashier's job. She is planning on attending college and "hopes to be a registered nurse someday, maybe a certified nurse midwife."

In her graduation speech Harris said, "I have learned that I am a very strong woman," and she quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, "To know one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded." Not only has she succeeded she has excelled.

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