Celebrity Baby Blog /

Usher: My Boys Bring Me Balance in Life

Kadena Pix/Bauer-Griffin

A tropical vacation? A trip to the spa? As many Hollywood stars escape the daily demands that surround their careers with impromptu getaways or a day of pampering, Usher finds his sense of balance in the eyes of two little boys — Usher ‘Cinco’ Raymond V, 19 months, and Naviyd Ely, 7 months. “I find balance in two places, when I’m working out and when I’m with my kids,” he tells OK!, adding that the “noise of my children” is music to the singer’s ears.

“When I hear them my mind is not focused on all of the things that are holding me down. When I’m with my boys it’s all about them and I just put it all together somehow.”

That said, despite his celebrity status, a good time spent with his two boys doesn’t necessarily mean pulling out the checkbook! “We spend most of our time in Atlanta in the car traveling wherever we’re going to go,” Usher says. “That’s when our fun moments are, either at home or in the car.”

With a dad whose voice has won him five Grammy awards, a career in music wouldn’t be a far stretch for Cinco and Naviyd. Hopeful his sons will become singers, 30-year-old Usher admits while his youngest is “not quite at the age where he can talk, sing, and catch rhythm,” little Cinco may soon be jumping in on the action — quite literally! “He likes to jump, that’s his new thing,” the proud papa laughs. His other new interest? Cell phones.

“[He] is a little destructive. He broke an assistant’s phone yesterday. He was playing with it and he dropped it. Kids don’t understand how valuable cell phones are. You lose your phone, it’s like you lost everything!”

Cinco and Naviyd are Usher’s children with estranged wife Tameka Foster.

Source: PEOPLE, OK!

– Anya

Hugh and Ava Jackman Splash Around!

Ramey

Refreshing! Hugh Jackman runs daughter Ava Eliot through the sprinkler at a playground in the West Village on Thursday afternoon in New York.

The pair, plus big brother Oscar, 9, also swung on the swings before returning home.

Ava celebrated her fourth birthday on Friday!

Fatherhood Turned Thad Luckinbill Into 'A Big Ball of Mush'

Michael Bezjian/WireImage

Thad Luckinbill swore that he would never be the type of dad that tursn into a softie once baby arrives — but he was wrong!  The minute Thaddeus Rowe Luckinbill Jr. was born 20 months ago, The Young and the Restless star “became a big ball of mush.” The actor explains that “you always hear how much you’re going to love your children, but to actually experience it is awesome … there’s just this amazing connection there.”  Rowe, as he is called, is now “at that age where he’s becoming a little boy instead of a baby” and keeping his parents — mom is actress Amelia Heinle — on their toes.

“Now Rowe is climbing on everything, running and jumping. You have to really chase him now, as opposed to him not being able to go very far. He’s fast.”

The 34-year-old old has not only had the challenge of figuring out his role in parenting Rowe, but also with 13-year-old August Manning, Amelia’s son with ex-husband, actor Michael Weatherly. “Amelia and August were doing just fine before I came along,” notes Thad. As he started spending more time with them, “I just figured out what my role with him would be.” He is the first to admit that the role is “never as the dad because August has one, but being the stepdad is still interesting and important.”

“With kids, you just can’t be their best friend when they’re growing up. They have to understand what authority and boundaries are. But August and I still have a lot of fun together, though sometimes I have to take a parental role. Amelia does a great job with him, so I just try to adapt to her philosophy.”

Are more children on the way? Although Thad says, “I think we’re doing fine with what we got right now. Kids are a lot of work,” rumor has it that the couple are currently expecting a baby girl!

Thad and Amelia met on the set of The Young of the Restless and were married in March 2007.

Source: Soap Opera Digest

– Angela