I’m not sure, but Barack Obama supporters certainly have a lot of cute examples if they decide to use that as campaign fodder. Oh wait! They have! “Yes We Can (Hold Babies)” has already launched and it’s filled with adorableness. But what about McCain? While there’s no site called “Country First (Babies Too!)” (snatching that URL up, pronto!), I tried to find a picture of McCain doing some infant nuzzling on AP. No such luck. After the jump, the closest thing I could find….

Some people don’t like their names. They wish their parents had named them “Melissa” instead of “Margaret,” or that they had a better/more normal middle name, something like “Marie,” the most popular middle name in my seventh grade class. And then there are those who need to change their name in order to function normally in society. A 9-year-old girl in New Zealand has been made a ward of the court so that she can change her name from “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.” Seriously. Maybe her parents were drunk or high when they came up with the name, but really, is that an excuse for forcing your child to go through life with that name? The poor girl is so embarrassed by her given name that she is known among her friends as “K.” And yet, there are actually people who change their names from normal to bizarre. CNN reports that a guy in Illinois legally changed his first name to “In God” and his last to “We Trust.” Bet that helps him pick up the ladies. [CNN]

If you’re planning on having children, please promise that you’ll continue to brush your teeth and visit your dentist twice a year. Researchers at NYU and Yale examined data on 2,635 U.S. women, and they found that across all socioeconomic groups, women with children had fewer teeth than women without children. Among those in the lowest socioeconomic group, the women with no children on average were missing two teeth, while those with one child were missing an average of three teeth. Women with four or more children were missing more than eight teeth! (If this were consistently true, Michelle Duggar would be toothless.)

One of the possible explanations is that women are more prone to gingivitis during pregnancy, which, left untreated, can lead to serious gum disease and tooth loss. Also, one of the study’s authors noted that women might be trying to avoid dental X-rays while they’re carrying a baby inside of them. (Lying in a dentists chair when you’re pregnant sounds incredibly uncomfortable, BTW.) Additionally, women with multiple children might forgo their own dental care due to lack of money or time. [Reuters]

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and Michelle Duggar, 41, is pregnant with her 18th child. She has been pregnant for more than 11 years, which sounds like the opposite of fun to me, but Michelle’s husband Jim Bob says they’ll keep having children as long as God wills it. The family includes seven sisters and 10 brothers – and all their names start with the letter J (I wonder if Michelle feels left out). Do you know what this reminds me of? The woman who has 80 cats. [AP]

My two and a half year old son has taken to calling himself “McLovin’”. Needless to say, that is not his name.

This new moniker originated courtesy of my husband, R. who, clearly in a moment of amazing judgment, decided to watch a portion of Superbad with our toddler son. As if exposing a toddler to this generation’s Porky’s wasn’t moronic enough, neglecting to remember that he recently has been parrot-like in his repeating of everything he hears just adds insult to the cinematic injury.

I never dreamed that I’d find a guy who would want to join me for weekly manicures and pedicures; that was a chick ritual best kept for me and my friend Michelle. No husbands allowed – or desired, for that matter. I always assumed, however, that the man I’d choose to spend the rest of my life with would be interested in spending cozy weeknights curled up with me on the sofa. We’d fire up the Tivo, going rock-paper-scissors over which program we’d watch first: How I Met Your Mother or Project Runway.

I’ve had a case of baby fever practically since I was an infant, so the possibility of someday having children has always been a no-brainer, even more than the idea of getting married. Put me in a room with a dozen adults and one youngster, and the child will have my ear all night. When I was freelance writing from home last year, I made extra cash, though not much, babysitting. It was mostly for fun and to put a damper on my crazy baby cravings. One thing I never considered in my non-debate over someday having kids was the possibility that my partner-in-crime might not want them as bad as I did…or even at all. When that became an issue for my fiancé and me long before we even got engaged, rest assured some tears were shed.

Did you have a baby last year? We didn’t—good thing, too, because babies are expensive and we really can’t afford one at the moment. Yesterday, the USDA released its estimate for what it will cost to raise a child born in 2007 until he or she turns 18. Factoring for inflation, middle-income families will spend $269,040, and this doesn’t include college, SAT prep classes, Brett Favre jerseys, iPhones, or whatever happens to be popular by the time these children hit middle school. For about the same amount of money, you could buy this house in Clermont, FL, but why you would is beyond me. [Reuters]

“Sex—What’s the big deal?” A French Museum of Science and Industry exhibit for children is asking that very question. The “cheeky, hands-on” experience is adapted from a book by Zep and Hélène Brulle and features a comic girl and boy as hosts.  Kid visitors, unlike most adult sexual experiences, start off “Being in Love” in the “Gallery of Kisses” where they can flirt or hang out on a heart-shaped bed. Sadly, they must head to the “Puberty” section next, an adult-free zone decked out like a bathroom, where students get a first-hand look at what’s going to happen to their bodies.  (We’re sure a few kids run out crying.)

Who doesn’t like a good spanking? Turns out even your kid eventually will.  If that grosses you out—or explains some things—then a new report, which links childhood penalties with adult sexual behavior, will come as no surprise. Elizabeth Gershoff, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor who has reviewed almost a century’s worth of research on spanking, claims people “may internalize [spankings] to mean that in loving relationships sometimes there’s pain or physical aggression.” Although the effectiveness of raising a hand to discipline a child is still up for debate, as of a 2007 study, 85% of people claim to have been spanked. So let’s face it—all (well, most) of us need to be punished. [ USA Today]

Talking to kids about sex must be tough. It’s probably not something that I would look forward to if I were a parent. Actually, I can’t even remember being given “the talk” when I was a wee girl. So, it’s not surprising that sexual topics were among the top 10 that parents hope doctors will discuss with adolescent patients, according to a national poll on children’s health—if the doctor covers menstruation and hair growth, parents don’t have to, right? Sexually transmitted diseases and the physical changes of puberty made the top 10, but, interestingly enough, sexual abstinence did not. [University of Michigan]