Tag Archives: parenting

Dax Shepard: Being a Father Is Like Falling in Love for the First Time

16 Jul

Dax Shepard: Being a Father Is Like Falling in Love for the First Time

AdMedia/Splash News Online

Dax Shepard has only been a dad for four months, but he seems to already have mastered parenting.

“I got the secret weapons – the Five S’s: swaddling, sideways, swaying, shushing and sucking,” the actor, who utilizes Dr. Harvey Karp’s method, told reporters at NBC’s Press Tour in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

Shepard, whose fianc e Kristen Bell gave birth to daughter Lincoln in March, says parenthood has been “every clich I’ve ever heard.”

“When I look at her, it’s like when I was in 7th grade and fell in love for the first time, where it’s debilitating,” says Shepard, 38. “That’s available 24/7 if I want, which is amazing.”

The Parenthood star says the prospect of fatherhood was never too daunting for him, as he already had quite a few diaper duty experiences under his belt before his daughter was born.

“I was older when my little sister was born, so I had done this before,” says Shepard. “I had changed a couple thousand diapers already a couple million times, so I wasn’t too afraid of [fatherhood], and it’s been nothing but wonderful.”

Not even sleep deprivation is plaguing the funnyman, explaining that he and Bell have developed a schedule for taking turns.

“If you’re logical about your approach, there’s a way for everyone to get some sleep,” he says.

Now that the couple has perfected parenthood, getting married is next on the agenda – but Shepard has no plans on having an over-the-top affair.

“I’m sure it will be a quick something,” he says.

– Gabrielle Olya

Rebecca Romijn Reveals the Real Reason Her Twins Love Airports

18 Jun

Rebecca Romijn King and Maxwell

Cindy Ord/Getty

With mom away, Rebecca Romijn‘s twins get plenty of time to play – in the airport bathrooms.

As the actress spends her time on location in Vancouver for King and Maxwell, husband Jerry O’Connell has been busy bringing the couple’s 4 -year-old daughters back and forth from Los Angeles to the Canadian locale.

Fortunately, Charlie and Dolly have found that arriving to their final destination is only half the fun.

“They love visiting airport bathrooms, which we all have to do together – three people in a bathroom is no joke,” Romijn, 40, tells PEOPLE.

“They love going on the airplane so that’s all they really care about.”

But while Charlie and Dolly have become champion fliers, keeping quiet on Romijn’s set doesn’t resonate well with the pair. “Everybody else thinks it’s hilarious and adorable when they visit. It just stresses the parents out relentlessly so they don’t come to set that often,” she says.

Getting the girls used to globetrotting with their actor parents is a priority for the couple as Romijn and O’Connell continue to pursue their onscreen careers. “We figure that if we’re going to be doing this for awhile, we may as well break them in while they’re young,” she says. “They seem to be adapting pretty well to the whole thing.”

Eventually, however, time spent perusing public restrooms will become few and far between when the twins trade in their travels for school books. “They’re going to start kindergarten soon [and] once they’re in real school I guess we’re going to have to pick a spot and stay there, but for now it’s working out,” Romijn says.

With funnyman O’Connell for a father, both girls have naturally inherited a “great sense of humor.” But it’s her daughter Charlie’s curious questions that have Romijn switching from a smile to a straight face.

“A couple of years ago [she started asking], ‘Mom, are you happy?’ – like 50 times a day – which is such a crazy question to get 50 times a day,” she says.

“Depending on how your day is going you answer that question a little bit differently to the point where you’re like, ‘Stop asking me that! That’s a totally annoying question!’ If you have anything on your face besides a smile, they want to make sure you’re okay.”

More recently, the tenacious twins have taken a turn with their slew of inquiries. “Now they ask me if I’m old and they ask Jerry – especially when he’s not wearing a shirt – if he’s strong,” Romijn says.

– Anya Leon

Vanessa Lachey: Why We Had Date Night on Father’s Day

21 May

Vanessa Lachey Father's Day

MediaPunch Inc/Rex USA

What started out as family fun on Father’s Day turned into a chance to rekindle the romance for Nick and Vanessa Lachey.

When the 98 Degrees tour bus pulled into Brooklyn for a concert, Vanessa put together a special celebration to highlight all things close to her husband’s heart. And the balance couldn’t have been any better.

“That morning I surprised him with a boat ride around Manhattan, and we just had lunch on the boat. It was me, him and [Camden],” Vanessa, 32, tells PARADE.

“He did the show that evening, and then that night we had a date night. Honestly, without sounding super cheesy, it was kind of the perfect mix – just being well-rounded and having work – his love – and his family – his other love – and then having ‘us’ time.”

Keeping the spark alive has been particularly important for the couple since welcoming their now 9-month-old son Camden John. “I think people sometimes get lost in their kids and they may have forgotten what got them there in the first place, which is their relationship,” she says.

But Vanessa isn’t the only one completely smitten with Nick. According to his wife, the first-time father already has a big fan in his baby boy.

“I think Cam just loves anything that Nick does – he’s such a little Daddy’s boy, it’s adorable,” Vanessa says.

The strong father-son bond began when Camden was in the womb, explains Vanessa, who shares the two’s favorite tune has since been “Sleepy Eyes,” a track that now appears on Nick’s album, A Father’s Lullaby.

“Nick used to hum [it] to him when he was still in my belly, so that one to us is kind of special,” she says. “He hummed the melody and then when Camden was born, he added words and lyrics to it. So, that one has a special place in our hearts.”

These days, the first-time mom is juggling a full place – aside from being a wife and mother, Vanessa is also gearing up for the premiere of her new show, Dads, in the fall.

But her growing list of responsibilities both personally and professionally doesn’t faze her in the least. In fact, Vanessa happily embraces the opportunities to switch up her roles throughout the day.

“I’ve always loved being busy, and I’ve always loved having a creative outlet,” she says. “For me, it’s awesome that having a baby doesn’t stop you or slow you down. As a woman, as a wife, as an entertainer, I just love keeping busy … and because I love all of those things, it’s a pretty easy juggle for me.”

However, at the end of the day, Vanessa’s top priority remains her greatest job to date – motherhood – and the actress is determined not to be pressured into focusing her attention on the more trivial parts of parenthood.

“Part of the problem that we have is that we’re constantly telling these new moms to lose weight and look good and do this and do that, instead of just letting them be moms and enjoy having a child, and having their family, and having this new role in your life!” she says. “It’s one of the hardest, if not the hardest, job in the world, and all the emphasis is placed on everything else as opposed to what’s important, which is loving your baby, and loving yourself and your body.”

She continues, “My biggest tip is to know that you are beautiful and know that you are wonderful, and absolutely amazing for raising a child.”

– Anya Leon

Mariska Hargitay: Amaya Stands Up for Her Bullied Brother

7 Mar

Mariska Hargitay: Amaya Stands Up for Her Bullied Brother

Michael Loccisano/NBC

Call it Law & Order toddler edition.

During a recent trip to the park, Mariska Hargitay says her 2-year-old daughter Amaya Josephine served up some playground justice.

“My daughter is the boss of me,” Hargitay, 49, told PEOPLE at the Law & Order SVU premiere party on Thursday. “She is so strong, her independence inspires me.”

The tot’s qualities were recently put to the test when a playmate began bullying her brother, Andrew Nicolas, 2.

“Amaya went up to her and said ‘Stop it.’ She’s two years old and she goes, ‘Stop it. No!'” says Hargitay, who adopted Amaya and Andrew in 2011.

According to the proud mama, Amaya’s good deed didn’t stop there. “Then, the little girl pushed her and she didn’t push her back! It was so simple, but so beautiful to me,” says the actress. “My kids are my teachers.”

In a chilling premiere episode, Hargitay returns as detective Olivia Benson on the 15th season of Law & Order: SVU, airing Sept. 25 on NBC. Her character is abducted and abused in gruesome scenes that Hargitay says took real life courage to shoot.

“It was brutal,” she recalls of filming the heavy material. “Definitely the hardest, most challenging work I’ve ever done. It called on me to be brave.”

Lucky for her, bravery runs in the family.

– Janine Rayford Rubenstein

Michael Bublé: My Son’s Birth Wasn’t ‘Life Changing’ – Until the Next Day

19 Feb

Michael Buble on Son Noah's Delivery

Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Like any other father, Michael Bubl was looking forward to seeing his son for the first time. But, despite the build up of emotions, when Noah arrived on Aug. 27, the new dad admits it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.

“I didn’t have that overwhelming feeling of love. I’m being honest with you,” the singer, 38, said during a Wednesday appearance on The Social.

“I’d heard all of these stories about how this moment was life-changing, but it wasn’t like that for me. I was nervous for my wife, and I was happy that he was healthy … but, that day, it was like meeting a stranger.”

A day later, while spending time with his baby boy, Bubl says the reality of fatherhood finally hit him. “That next night, it really clicked,” he shares. “I was looking at him and all of a sudden, I got it.”

Since that moment, Bubl has played the part of doting daddy perfectly, learning how to soothe his son with his singing skills.

“I sing to him all day and all night. When he’s crying with somebody else and I hold him and I sing to him, he just stops. It’s really cool,” the proud papa says. “The songs I’m singing are not my hits – that’s for sure. My number one go-to right now is ‘Down by the Bay.'”

Among his other newly acquired skills? “I’ve become a master at changing poopy diapers. And I can swaddle – I enjoy being swaddled myself!” he jokes.

Now head over heels for his first child with wife Luisana Lopilato, Bubl won’t be trying to convey the feelings of fatherhood anytime soon. “It’s the greatest thing that could ever happen,” he says. “You can’t explain it until it happens – it’s like telling somebody what water feels like before they’ve ever swum in it.”

And while he’s received a fair share of advice, Bubl has adopted a live and learn approach to parenting. “Every single person in the whole world tells you how to do it a different way,” he explains.

“At first it confuses you, then it drives you nuts, and then you realize that there is no right way. You just do the best you can and hope it turns out okay,” Bubl adds.

– Anya Leon

Sarah Michelle Gellar: My Daughter Thinks I Get My Hair Done for a Living

24 Nov

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup

Can a working mom have it all? Maybe. But for Sarah Michelle Gellar, that means taking jobs close to home.

“Ultimately, yes, you hope that everybody can have it all, but everyone will tell you that is almost impossible,” the actress, 36, and mom to Charlotte, 3, and Rocky, 10 months, told PEOPLE Monday at CBS’s 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour in Beverly Hills.

“I applaud the women who can still make movies and travel all over the world, but that is not for me,” she says.

“I’ve luckily found a job where I can take my daughter to school in the morning and still be at work. And for me, it is the best of both – I mean, the ultimate job I could ever ask for.”

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress, who will star this fall with Robin Williams in CBS’s new show The Crazy Ones, says while having kids affects the roles she takes, it doesn’t necessarily help with character development.

“Once you get on set, you have to decompartmentalize and focus on the job,” she says. “My character on the show is nowhere near having children, so you put that away.”

Gellar looked fabulous Monday, and chalked it up to a mix of healthy eating, exercise – and a little help from Spanx.

“God bless whoever invented them,” she jokes. “You know, I chase two children all day long, so there’s that constant ‘Let’s go swimming now! Let’s go do this now!” And I take advantage of being in California, so ‘Let’s go outside! Let’s do this!'”

She continues, “I try also for the healthy choices to influence both me and my children’s meals as well. We have a garden, and we grow everything ourselves, and we make it into juices. My daughter loves kale juice and kale chips, so we try to make it into a family thing.”

Asked if her kids know what she does for a living, she replied, “Not a clue. My daughter thinks I get my hair done for a living … And my son is 10 months old, and I am lucky he knows who I am.”

– Tim Nudd and Patrick Gomez

Tamar Braxton: Why Working Moms Shouldn’t Feel Guilty

28 Oct

At five weeks old, Logan Vincent Herbert is making it clear that he is Daddy’s little boy.

During a press tour for her new talk show The Real, Tamar Braxton gave PEOPLE a sneak into the life of her newborn.

“The baby is just like my husband [Vince Herbert],” the songstress, 36, tells PEOPLE. “Vincent is really reserved and laid back and quiet and likes to keep to himself. Logan is just like that.”

She adds, “If you touch him, he will make a noise, like, ‘Don’t touch me, get off me.'”

Tamar Braxton The Real

Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.


The reality star announced the birth of her son via Twitter, posting a photo of a large blue teddy bear and an “It’s a boy!” balloon.

The working mom is thrilled about her new gig and says nurturing her career keeps her content.

“Working makes me happy,” Braxton says. “So I have to do this so I can come home and be a happy mother for my child because they pick up on that.”

The Real, also featuring Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon, Jeannie Mai and Tamera Mowry-Housley, premiered Monday and is currently airing on FOX in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Houston and Tampa.

– Raha Lewis

Josh Duhamel: Why Nobody Knows Our Baby’s Name

28 Oct

Josh Duhamel Diet Pepsi Baby Name

Stewart Cook/Startraks

Josh Duhamel is no stranger to the spotlight, but the ability to blend back in with the crowds still isn’t completely out of the question for the actor.

During a Diet Pepsi event on Friday, Duhamel put it all to the test as he manned the cash register, surprising customers who recognized his famous face.

“It’s an opportunity to really mess with people. There was a lot of people who didn’t [recognize me], but there was enough that did,” Duhamel, 40, told PEOPLE at the I Got a Diet Pepsi And… campaign in Los Angeles.

“I think sometimes the ones who don’t are the best ones. They don’t have a clue and you just strike up conversation and they may recognize you, but they don’t say anything.”

He continues, “This brand is a lot of fun – they found me to be the guy to be in here and screw with people and just have fun.”

Aside from his Diet Pepsi partnership, Duhamel has been busy with his acting and will soon wrap work on his upcoming film Strings, which he spent a week filming in Canada.

The short work schedule was “ideal” for Duhamel, who prefers to keep things close to home and his wife Fergie, who’s due in late August/early September with the couple’s first child.

“I really don’t want to be away from her right now. I definitely don’t want to be gone when the baby’s here,” he says. “But I feel very, very blessed to have a wife that’s going through this pregnancy so beautifully.”

As the future father gears up for daddy duty, he’s happily embraced the sweeter side of pregnancy – the cravings! – as Fergie attempts to maintain a balanced diet. “She’s really been good. I think that’s why she feels so good. She’s been eating really healthy,” he shares.

“She does [give into cravings] a little bit of course – she always has and she always will – but she stayed very disciplined because it’s all about what goes into her body goes into the baby.”

Duhamel is doing his part to stay physically fit, but the actor jokes that he’s given up on trying to achieve a brawny build. “I’m sort of in shape. I do exercise. I do work out, but I’m not like The Rock,” he says. “I try to stay healthy, I try to stay athletic and flexible, but I gave up trying to get big muscles years ago because it just didn’t happen.”

The proud parents-to-be just revealed that they’re having a boy, but they’re maintaining a code of silence when it comes to their name choice. According to Duhamel, even Fergie’s extended family do not know the moniker – and will not until baby’s big arrival.

“Some people may not like it, some people may think it’s really cool, but we don’t really care – that’s why we’re not telling anybody,” he explains. “We’re not even telling [Fergie’s] mom because we don’t want to hear anything about it. That way you don’t feel like you’re second-guessing yourself. It’s between us – it’s a sacred thing.”

One thing’s for sure: the little one’s name plays to both Duhamel and Fergie’s senses of style.

“[The name is] kind of traditional, kind of not. My wife is a little rock and roll, so she’s a little bit more daring in that department than I am,” he says. “We decided on a name that we both really love and I think will suit this child.”

– Anya Leon with reporting by Mariah Haas

Jenna Dewan-Tatum ‘Melts’ at the Sight of Channing with Everly

24 Oct

Jenna Dewan Talks Baby Everly

Frederick M. Brown/Getty

Acting again after giving birth to Everly on May 31 has its challenges, but Jenna Dewan-Tatum is finding a way to balance the two important parts of her life.

“I was little worried about getting back to work, having my head be in the right place, leaving her at times,” the actress, 32, told PEOPLE at a Television Critics Association event on Friday in Beverly Hills.

“And I still have issues with that, like any new mom [who] goes back to work, but it’s been really a lot easier with the amazing women [who] are part of this cast. They’re helping me a lot.”

The Witches of East End star always has something to look forward to when she gets home.

“She’s smiling and giggling,” Dewan-Tatum says of her daughter. “Everyone says it’s the best, and it is the best! Last week she just started looking at me and recognizing me and smiling, and my whole world melted!”

One of the best parts of the parenting process is having PEOPLE’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive by her side.

“[He’s] been amazing,” the new mom told reporters of hubby Channing Tatum. “He comes and visits me. He’s working at the same time right now, but we prepared for that … It’s a little crazy in my house but it’s good.”

Nothing compares to seeing her loves interact.

“You see the thing you love the most with the other thing you love the most, and there’s just a natural new awakening of the love you guys share together,” Dewan-Tatum says. “Just caring for something that’s so small, and being so gentle and tender makes you just melt.”

As wonderful as motherhood is, the starlet does wish she could nap from time to time.

“I can tell you what I’d want my power to be right now,” she said. “Being a new mom, I would like to be able to sleep. Like this, snap my fingers and sleep, because I’m a little sleep-deprived at the moment!”

Gabrielle Olya

Céline Dion: The Twins Are Typical Toddlers

22 Aug

Celine Dion

KCSPresse/Splash News Online

Deciding to sing the title track for the new film Unfinished Song was a no-brainer for C line Dion.

“There are not enough movies out there like this one,” she tells PEOPLE about the comedy, which stars Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton and follows the story of a grumpy pensioner who joins the unconventional local choir.

“The movie is full of love and reminds you to live every day to the fullest.”

And Dion, 45, is certainly doing just that. Besides her nightly shows at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, an English-language album coming out this fall and helping launch the career of new artist V ronic DiCaire, she’s got her hands full with 12-year-old son Ren -Charles and 2 -year-old fraternal twins Eddy and Nelson.

“There’s a lot of play dough, painting and hide and seek going on at our house,” says the singer. “[The boys are] doing exactly what most 2-year-olds are doing – growing, listening to music and running around the house.”

With the intense summer heat, the toddlers have been spending more time indoors than usual. Fortunately, however, their creative mama has managed to make sure they’re still enjoying their outdoor playthings.

“We’re doing a lot of activities inside. I even brought their swing inside,” Dion says. “But at night we all go for a swim in our pool after the show to cool down. We’re doing our best to keep cool.”

– Mia McNiece