Why do we love Michelle Obama? Because she's just like us! Just another mom facing the same day-to-day parenting challenges the rest of us face. Like convincing her kids to pick apples over cookies, for example.

Which leads me to another reason why we love Michelle Obama: She's devoted to convincing our kids to pick apples over cookies, too. I can't think of a better cause for the First Lady to take up than getting America's children to eat healthy, and she's doing an amazing job of educating and encouraging parents as well. 

No surprise there -- she's speaking from experience:

If your kids seem to enjoy breakfast more than any other meal of the day, why not start their birthday off with a bang? No, you don't have to send out the Evite for 8:00 a.m., or go to the pony rides at the crack of dawn. There are much easier ways to celebrate a kid birthday party in the early morning hours.

In fact, some fantastic advantages to throwing a breakfast birthday party include, but are not limited to: Easy clean-up, small crowds, lots of inexpressive options, and everyone will want to nap in the afternoon.

Here are five ways you can throw your toddler a fantastic breakfast birthday party:

Jennifer Lopez has a pair of super-sweet niños, twins Emme and Max. She talked about them a little last night on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, and you can tell she's so proud of them. "Oh they're so good, they're about to turn 4," she told Jay. And she has the cutest nickname for the twins -- yes, they share the same nickname, one for the pair of them.

Jay already knew about the nickname: "Are you still calling them The Coconuts?" OMG, The Coconuts! That's so freaking adorable. Don't babies look like coconuts, with their little coconut-sized heads with their little hairs coming in? Here's what J. Lo said about her twins' kooky nickname.

Having a son as a woman who has only really ever been around women can be a humbling, strange experience. I sometimes tell my husband that raising our 3.5-year-old boy feels like someone dropped me off on another planet where I don't know the language and have no map.

He makes me laugh like no other, but his whims and desires and interests sometimes do feel as foreign to me as another galaxy. Still, he has taught me a lot.

Yesterday, for instance, my son was wandering around the house in his underwear and his fire boots screaming about how he couldn't find the RED firetruck -- because the other 15 are apparently the wrong shade -- and I got it. I helped him look, solved the problem, and all of a sudden it dawned on me that this little man has taught me so much about the bigger man in my life (my husband) and even more about men in general. So here are 11 things my son has taught me about men:

When it comes to hot-button parenting topics like how long to breastfeed and whether TV is okay in moderation, I try to avoid getting caught in the "I'm right/You're wrong" vortex of righteous indignation. Meaning, I might be opinionated, but I try not to be judgmental. At least not outwardly.

That said, the latest chapter in the To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate saga is disturbing enough to warrant, let's say, a formal expression of concern. (Which is not the same as a judgement. Not really.)

Look, it's dangerous enough to decide against vaccinating your child because of religious beliefs. But let's say another kid at school comes down with one of those communicable diseases your child didn't get immunized against. What if the principal temporarily banned your kid from school for her own protection?

A story out of Florida serves a heartbreaking and terrifying reminder for all parents of small children that toddlers have to be watched at all times. It happened last Friday afternoon in Lauderdale Lakes. Two-year-old Jona Lilavois was watching TV while her mother reportedly went outside to get some laundry off the line, and her father went to the restroom. They thought she'd be fine there.

At some point, however, Jona lost interest in the show and headed out the front door of the family's home. When her parents saw she was missing, they looked everywhere, then began knocking on neighbors' doors. By the time she was found, it was too late.

For my husband and me, not spanking our child has been mostly a gut decision. It just feels like the right choice for us. We haven't been compiling research that proves spanking is bad for kids, although there seems to be a lot of that research out there lately.

The latest study shows a link between spanking and aggressive behavior in spanked children. It's not a make-or-break study for me, but it does make me feel more confident in my choice. And it also doesn't surprise me at all.

You know that "Charlie Bit My Finger" viral video? The one in which a kid inserts his finger into his younger brother's mouth and then exclaims, "Ouch! Charlie! Ooow! Charlie, that really hurts!"? Of course you do. We've all seen it. Most of us have even watched it repeatedly -- though it's unclear what's so captivating about the 56-second clip. Toddler Harry's adorable British accent? His baby brother's equally adorable chortle? The changing expressions on their faces? Their brotherly bond?

Still, it's hard to watch it just once through without hitting "Replay." And since the boys' dad, Howard Davies-Carr, posted the video of his sons Charlie and Harry on YouTube in 2007, it's been viewed more than 419 million times! (I personally am responsible for at least 25 of those times.)