West Coast Avengers cover with
Hawkeye wearing a hearing aidLittle Anthony Smith was absolutely sure about one thing -- superheroes did not wear hearing aids. So when his mom Christina D'Allesandro asked the 4-year-old to put on his hearing device -- which they dubbed "blue ear" because of it's color -- he naturally put up a fight.

She told him that crime fighters did in fact wear hearing aids, but Anthony wanted proof. As with most good moms, Christina didn't give up. She emailed Marvel Comics to see if, on an off chance, there were any superheroes who fit the bill. "I am likely to get stuck in your spam filter," she wrote from their Salem, New Hampshire home. "But you never know..." The long shot paid off.

Last night, as I was tucking my 2-year old snugly in her bed for the 7,364,732th time, she looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mama, I'm so excited for my birthday. I'm gonna be FREEE!"

The tears welled up and I was thankful for the darkness in her room, so she didn't try to poke at my eyes as I said, "Yes, Baby, you are."

There was a time when everything was not so clear. A time when I couldn't take for granted that my daughter would turn one, two, or, as she likes to say, "freeee!"

I just read a story about a family with three children who have the rare genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. The youngest, Finley Green, is a toddler who has been in and out of the hospital his entire life. He has a cyst on his brain and for the first 11 months of his life he was fed through a tube in his nose. This Christmas Finley received the gift of special equipment that will help his development.

It's wonderful that the Green family is getting some help, but I keep wondering -- what motivated the Greens to take a huge risk after that first child and have two more children? If you find out your first child has a genetic disorder, you know there's the chance that your next children could also have that disorder. Then again, those next children could be fine. How do you choose?

My Two Geniuses & One Not-So-Smart DogSince every time I read a new study it basically tells me what I'm doing wrong as a parent, imagine my relief when I stumbled upon The Daily Beast article, "15 Signs You'll Raise a Genius." It appears, based on this article, that my kids are totally going to be geniuses. My work here is done. Moving on! Next stop, raising kids who never get allergies, cancer, or put their foot in their mouth. Surely there's a list for those things that I could simply check off and move along to that Pilates class I've always been meaning to take but don't have enough time given the focus on my children.

Just so I know what kind of company I'm in here, are you doing all of these things to make sure your child is a genius?

If your toddler's picky eating is consuming your worries and making mealtimes miserable, know that your battle is likely nothing compared to that of the parents of 19-month-old Alex Tesoriero. The toddler will literally eat nothing. In fact, he's never even tasted food.

His story is heartbreaking, and if your child will eat nothing but mac and cheese, it will make you grateful he or she will at least eat that.

Does your toddler seem to have selective hearing? Does she look right at you when you're talking, then turn away to do something more "interesting"? Is he so lost in space that you wonder if he knows something you don't? Mine does all this and more, and to tell you the truth, I've been wondering about him lately. After repeating, "Look at me, look at me, hey, why don't you look at mama?" ten times, I think he must be deaf, or worse. Granted, I might turn off if a lady three times my size was leaning over me and saying the same thing over and over again. And part of the problem is the comparison trap. His sister has such laser focus, when he drifts away I can't help but wonder if something is wrong.

Which is why I was a relieved to read a physician's piece about how small children actually have good reason to stare off into space, or shut down.

I'd never heard of Angelman Syndrome until Colin Farrell opened up about his son having it last night on David Letterman. Farrell seems to be quite a private guy in recent years and him opening up and speaking so tenderly about his son's neurodevelopmental disorder made me admire him that much more.

I knew he was a dad to two sons. Henry (seen here with Colin) is almost 2 and his mother is Alicja Bachleda, Polish actress and singer. His son James with model Kim Bordenave is who has Angelman Syndrome.

James is 7, and started walking when he was 4. Originally it was believed he had cerebral palsy.

Tracy Morgan really needs a newer, fancier shovel because he keeps digging himself deeper and deeper. Ready to be outraged? On the heels of his anti-gay "comic" spree, Tracy's on to, er, against a new group of people: Mentally disabled children and their mothers. He goes as far as to use the word retarded.

I wanted to forgive him the first time, but now he has gone too far and disgraces moms and children. Prepare yourself ... these are the disgusting things he said during his stand-up routine ...