Actor Ethan Hawke welcomed a baby girl into the world July 18th, according to his representative. Hawke and his wife, former nanny (to his kids with Uma Thurman) Ryan Shawhughes, are proud parents to Clementine Jane Hawke. Clementine is the first child for the newlyweds and joins siblings Maya Rae and Levan Roan, Ethan's kids with Uma Thurman.

Mara Buxbaum confirmed the happy news. Hawke and Shawhughes married a month ago. Hawke split from Thurman in 2004, and it is alleged that she may be pregnant as well.

Congratulations to the couple!

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Hugh Jackman is no stranger to parenthood. The X-Men star is dad to two children and remembers what it was like to be a new parent. One thing he didn't care for was all the advice lopped at him. As a result, Jackman has endeavored to decline from offering parenting advice to other new parents. He is refusing to offer advice to new mom Nicole Kidman (and new dad Keith Urban). Nicole and Keith recently welcomed daughter Sunday Rose into the world. No word on whether or not they actually sought advice from Jackman, but if they did or do, they ain't gonna get any.

Jackman did go on to say that he received one bit of useful advice from the man who helped deliver his son--never to rock the baby. According to Jackman, if one does this one will spend one's life doing it. He declined to offer this information to his Australian compatriots.

What do you think? Did you appreciate advice when you were a new parent or did it annoy you like it did Hugh Jackman? New parents, regardless of whether or not they're celebrities, have a lot to learn about raising a baby. Ultimately, there's only one way to do it, and that is to go through it and learn from experience.

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Britney's fans may be holding out hope for a career comeback, but she's been busy making a comeback of a different type. Last week, the custody case between Britney and ex-husband Kevin Federline was settled. While Kevin will retain primary physical custody, Britney will get visitation with the boys three days a week and two nights, or about 40% of the time. Kevin, on the other hand, will see a "slight" increase in child support payments.

Anyone who watched Brit's breakdown a little less than a year ago will know that she's come a long way in her recovery process. Eight months ago, she lost custody of the boys and seemed unable to pull herself together to even fight for them, which, as a mom, was really frustrating and difficult to watch.

Britney's affairs are still under the control of her father, Jamie Spears, but she's slowly been making professional gains as well, with a cameo on How I Met Your Mother and work toward a new album. I think this is a major victory for her personally, and hopefully a sign that she's on her way to a more balanced and happy life.

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Welsh actor Sean Connery has left his son out of his will. According to his ex-wife, the reasoning behind this is that his son, Jason, should provide for himself.

Jason is now forty-five years old, so one would hope he indeed is able to provide for himself. And, in fact he is. According to reports, the father and son fell out after Jason threatened to drop the family name--the reason behind the fight in the first place. Jason works as an actor and director, gigs his father claims he got only because of his name.

According to Connery's ex-wife Diane Cilento, the relationship became strained after Connery cut off the money to his son. What would you do? If you were in a position of power or influence, would you open doors for your children, or would you make them work for it all? Or, would you do something in between?

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For someone who had little to say about her pregnancy, Minnie Driver is certainly opening up these days. She won't reveal the name of the baby's father and she has no plans on finding out the baby's sex before the big day, but she has a lot to say about the rest of parenting.

The actress recently revealed she has no real plans to stay with the baby's father and is seriously considering single motherhood. Now she admits she is prepared to be a "chubby" mother as well. As opposed to other Hollywood starlets who look like they were never pregnant to begin with (Keri Russell, I'm talking to YOU) or those who hit the gym moments after they shed the placenta and worked out frantically to reduce their size, Minnie has no plans to do anything other than be a mommy! Take that, Kate Hudson! (Hudson gained seventy pounds with son Ryder.)

Driver says to plan on seeing her around Malibu, and to plan on seeing her fat. As most of us realistic gals know, it takes a year to put it on, and heaven knows it can take at least a year to take it back off--if we ever do. Nice to hear someone from tinsel town taking a breath of reality! I doubt Minnie will stay 'chubby' as she likes to call it, given that she gained a ton of weight for her breakout role in Circle of Friends and lost all of it, but only time will tell. I just wish someone would advise Minnie she doesn't look fat now that she's pregnant--she looks fantastic!

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Actor Kevin Costner recently revealed his fear of fatherhood almost cost him his marriage. The Tin Cup star, already father to three children, was unsure of his ability to be an effective father to the children new girlfriend (now wife) Christine Baumgartner.

Christine made no bones about her desire to be a mother, and Costner admits it kept him from marrying her for years. Then the actor made a stark realization: lose a gorgeous young woman who wants to spend the rest of her life with you, or have another kid.

The pair wed in 2004 and Christine gave birth to the couple's first child, son Cayden, in 2007. I can appreciate Christine's candor--so many couples fail to discuss the crucial element of children before they get married. Either you want them, or you don't--and it's best to make that clear before you take a trip down the aisle. Looks like Christine got to have her cake and eat it too.

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A recent letter from the Vice President of Communications at Nike, which was perhaps inappropriately shared, has controversy brewing. Apparently, one Amanda Miller contacted one New York Times writer Joe Nocera in an attempt to pitch him some sort of stroller. Nike Communications is a public relations firm that sells expensive stuff. Joe, and everyone else who responded in the comments section of his blog about the letter, was offended, or at least annoyed. You see, Ms. Miller referred to children as accessories. This is nothing new--people have worn their babies since, well, since they've been having them. What we carry them in, as opposed to on us, has changed, but little else.

Oh, perhaps there was a time not so long ago when women didn't really leave the house and therefore, when with child (in or out of the womb) they didn't leave either, which meant no one really saw much of children until they were working age. But now, all that has changed. Now celebrities can be seen with their spawn doing whatever it is they do when they're not busy making the millions required to purchase the kind of stroller Ms. Miller is suggesting to the tune of $1,000.

Celebrities procreate--many of them doing so two at a time--and then they show them off to the world. The question is no longer what those celebrity moms are wearing, but what their babies are IN. That's right--out with Halston, and in with the Phil & Ted's chic stroller, and their new Traveller, which is actually just a playpen. Clearly Ms. Miller should be fired. Not for attempting to sell people stuff they don't need at a ridiculous price--after all, it's a PR firm, that's what they get paid to do!--but because Joe Nocera is clearly not her target audience. I can think about at least ten people, all of them women, who would eat up the letter from Ms. Miller and barely wash it down with an iced decaf skim latte before immediately setting out to purchase one. Did I mention I live in New York City? Joe Nocera? Clearly not interested.

Stroller pic by Ed Yourdon.

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Nicole Kidman may be debuting pics of her new baby soon, but if she does so, it won't be for cash. The Oscar winner and her country music star husband, Keith Urban, recently welcomed Sunday Rose into the world. According to reports, they've been debating about whether to share their joy in picture format.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, if they do release pics, it won't be for a lot of money. In fact, the Australian paper is reporting, if pictures are released it will be for free.

As we all know, the Jolie-Pitt twins pictures will be worth between $15 and $20 million. The money has reportedly been earmarked for charity. Hollywood stars have had a long tradition of selling pictures of their children to publications like People and OK Magazine for hefty sums. Nice to see the Kidman Urban tribe isn't willing to share their joy only if there's payment involved.

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Minnie Driver may want to give Bridget Moynahan a call. Ms. Moynahan has experience in something Minnie thinks she may be taking on pretty soon: single motherhood. The actress, who is expecting any day now, says she isn't certain whether or not she'll stay with the baby's father and is considering single motherhood as a definite option. Minnie has even set the stage for the possibility of a man-free world by surrounding herself with family and friends to help rear the baby.

According to the actress she'll have her mother, aunt and best friends to support her. Minnie has still refused to let on who the father of the baby is. She is also quoted as saying it's great to be independent in that way--and she certainly already has a leg up on that by denying the Hollywood gossip rags info on the baby daddy! Way to go, Minnie!

Minnie has also stated she'll probably go for a regular old baby name instead of some type of fruit, a day of the week or something that belongs on a space station. We'll see about that--she's resisted telling us the baby's daddy, the sex and now she wants a normal name? Who is this person who does whatever she wants? Independent indeed!

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They say that experience is the best teacher, but I don't think that applies in all cases. For example, Susan Olsen, better known as Cindy from the Brady Bunch, is teaching her 10-year-old son the dangers of alcohol by binge drinking and showing up for work with a vomit-inducing hangover.

The 47-year-old Olsen was being interviewed on a Colorado radio show when she began showing signs of intestinal distress. Clutching her stomach and covering her mouth, the former cutie-pie suddenly bolted for the bathroom. When asked what happened, she proudly told the truth: she drank too much wine the night before and was dealing with a bad hangover. "Of course I threw up in the bathroom. It's better than throwing up on their face," she said. "I'm a very, very, very honest person. I also am a person who doesn't drink."

I agree, cookies are better tossed in the bathroom than on the table. And honesty usually is the best policy. But what about her 10-year-old son, who was with her in the studio? When asked if she was at all bothered by the fact that he witnessed this display, she she insisted she was not. "That's the way kids learn," she said.

The way that kids learn what, exactly? That mom can't hold her booze? That getting drunk the night before you have to work is perfectly acceptable as long as you are honest about it? And if she really never drinks, what prompted her son to invite listeners to come "watch her drink like a pig" at a local bar?

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Spice Girl Melanie Brown has a working wish list that a lot of parents would envy. She says that before she will agree to take a job, her prospective employer must agree to some basic ground rules: her children must be allowed to accompany her to work and she must be allowed to finish up for the day in time to put the kids to bed.

My first thought was that she is pretty lucky to be in a position to make such demands. She gets to have a career and not miss a minute with her kids. But then I thought more about it and realized that if Mel gets her way, 9-year-old Phoenix Chi and 1-year-old Angel Iris are likely spending all day, every day, on a set or wherever it is that Melanie makes her money (what does she do these days?).

While on some level, I guess I do envy her ability to have her working parent demands met, I wonder how the kids feel about it. Is she really doing what is best for her children by dragging them to work with her? Or is she being selfish in trying to have it all?

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So, the long wait has ended. Not only did Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt finally have those babies yesterday, they bucked a trend and released their names immediately. Surely you have heard by now that the newest additions to the ever-expanding Jolie-Pitt family are Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline.

It is no surprise that the couple got creative with their baby names. You didn't expect a John or a Mary, did you? And while Knox may be the most unusual name of the two, it is the choice of Vivienne that surprises most. It is downright traditional in an early 1900's kind of way. The French feminine of Vivian, their new daughter's name is obviously a nod to Jolie's late mother, French-born Marcheline. Compared to her sisters Shiloh and Zahara, Vivienne's name may sound a little boring, but I think it's beautiful.

As far as Knox Leon, it would appear that the Jolie-Pitt's are fond of the letter X. As in Maddox, Pax and now Knox. I don't know what that name means to the French, but apparently there is a Knox somewhere in Brad's family tree. It's nice enough, but my first thought was gelatin. Followed by Barney Fife (but that's Don Knotts). If they plan to have more babies (does anyone doubt they will?), where else can they go with this X business?

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The drug Heparin is in the headlines because once again, tiny babies were mistakenly given too much of the anticoagulant used to prevent intravenous blood clots and keep IV lines clear.

This time the overdose isn't being blamed on the company's bad labeling, however. The mistake in this case is co completely due to human error. Hospital pharmacists in a Texas hospital mixed up too strong a dose of Heparin which resulted in seventeen babies being given 100x's the recommended dosage for their size. Two premature siblings have died, but it is not yet known if their deaths were Heparin-related or due to other factors.

Just a couple months ago, actor Dennis Quaid testified before a House committee about the agony his family went through when his newborn twins were given a Heparin overdose. The experience spurred Quaid and his wife to start The Quaid Foundation in order to bring attention to the devastation human error can have in a hospital setting. The site contains a link for people to sign an online petition for the Health Care Quality Improvement Act, that would allow Physicians and nurses to whistle blow without being fired or given penalties for reporting potentially dangerous practices within their work environment.

While it's too late to help the babies in this latest incident, it seems pretty clear that the medical community needs more effective safeguards to protect patients, especially the tiniest ones.

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He's an elite soccer star, one half of a popular celebrity couple, and one heck of an underwear model. But David Beckham is also a dad and a soccer coach. This summer, Becks is showing his softer side by taking on a new challenge -- Oscar the Grouch. The new Sesame Street season starts on August 11th and Posh's hubby will guest star. He's rumored to go head-to-head with the green, grouchy puppet in what promises to be a hilarious scene.

Says a source, "He loves dealing with kids and thought it would be a great way to get through to them." I think this is a great way for David to make himself more approachable to kids, especially those who idolize his work on the soccer field.

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Vaccinations are a hot-button topic that never fails to get parents on either side of the issued riled up. Amanda Peet, who will soon be appearing in a a pro-vaccination video, likely stirred the pot a little more with her recent comment to Cookie magazine.

"I was shocked by the amount of misinformation floating around," she said, "Particularly in Hollywood. Frankly, I feel that parents who don't vaccinate their children are parasites." Somewhere in Hollywood, Jenny McCarthy's ears just started burning.

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