Toddlers

A 21-month-old girl fell into a storm drain in Fall River, Massachusetts, but fortunately two heroes were there to spring into action and save her.

Bruce Hebert and Pedro Davila sprung into action after hearing the screams of the girl’s mother Saturday night.

The two used a lug wrench and a hammer to open the drain cover. Davila jumped in and retrieved the little girl who was face down in the water, the newspaper said.

Hebert administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the child started spitting up water.

And here we thought our 4 year old was a smartypants because of his reading skills, but this little girl makes him look illiterate:

Elizabeth Barrett is to all appearances your standard 17-month-old girl, complete with wisps of gossamer hair so blond it’s almost white and the unsteady gait that is the definition of a toddler. As her parents and two other adults talk earnestly around her, she paws through a couple of large-format children’s books on a table, blissfully unaware of the conversation around her.

Then TODAY’s Ann Curry holds up a sheet of paper with the word “HAPPY” printed in big, block letters and asks Elizabeth to read it.

“Hap-py,” Elizabeth chirps without hesitation, enunciating each syllable in a bright little voice.

Nature or nurture?

Katy Barrett and her husband, Michael, are speech pathologists, and when Elizabeth was born, they said on Monday, they started teaching her sign language along with spoken language. They read to her often, and her favorite television program — the only one her parents let her watch — was a PBS show called “Signing Times,” which teaches kids sign language.

As bona fide germaphobes, we just can’t imagine how people can live in such filth. Even if you’re poor, it doesn’t cost any money to take out the trash or bust out a rag once in a while. You owe it to your kids.

A strong odor still wafted down the Rockville Centre street yesterday where a toddler and a half-dozen animals were found in an unsafe, trash-strewn house.

The boy, 1, and the pets were removed after police went to 40 South Marion Place Friday in response to a complaint of two men fighting. Police saw dangerous conditions in and around the house and the boy in a stroller in the living room, said Rockville Centre village administrator Frank Quigley.

“There were dead mice on the front lawn” and trash in the house, Quigley said. “There were all kinds of electrical violations … clothing piled up everywhere and a tremendously powerful stench.”

The cause of death for a toddler who died in early January in Cleburne, Texas, was finally announced — the child overdosed on cocaine. WTF? And why did it take so long for that to be discovered? Maybe we’ve been watching too much CSI.

Cleburne police are trying to determine how a baby ingested cocaine that later killed him.

Sgt. Amy Knoll said on Tuesday the Jan. 5 death of 14-month-old J.C. Luna of Cleburne has been ruled a drug overdose. No charges have been filed.

Police say the infant was hospitalized Oct. 11 when he started having trouble breathing, about 20 minutes after his mother left him with a baby sitter.

This story makes me physically ill.

I cannot believe that NOBODY in the apartment building heard this child’s cries. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to starve to death, but I’m quite certain, it isn’t fun. This is unfathomable. Just horrific.

OMAHA, Neb. — Questions from family surround the deaths of an Omaha woman and her young son who were found in their downtown Omaha apartment Monday morning.

Police said it appeared the boy, whose nickname was “Zeke,” was foraging for food after his mother died.

Omaha police said they were called to the Drake Court apartments near 21st and Leavenworth streets at about 11:30 a.m. Monday. They found Janelle Browning, 43, and her 21-month-old son, Ezekiel Berry, dead inside their apartment.

First of all, I had no idea that there large, commercial daycares that are open overnight even existed.

Who knew?

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police are investigating a case of possible child neglect after a toddler was left in her day care van for two hours and later found sleeping there.

Denise Lindsey, 26, said she called authorities after her 21-month-old daughter, Zakia Goff, did not return home as expected at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The girl was found two hours later, when police forced their way through a locked gate at the day care center. The sleeping girl woke up and cried. Lindsey said they took her to a hospital as a precaution.

Tell your tots to eat their carrots and they too may find a Wooly Mammoth treasure:

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Three-year-old Kaleb Kidd spotted what looked like an unusual rock while chasing squirrels Monday at a family friend’s property on St. Joseph Ridge near La Crosse.

“Grandpa, what’s that?” Kaleb asked his grandfather, Gary Kidd.

Fortunately for the elder Kidd, the find was similar to one he made in 1998.
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He told his grandson it looked like the tooth of a wooly mammoth - the extinct, hairy elephant that once roamed North America.

While freak accidents do happen, I’m not sure if this mother will ever be able to forgive herself, having taken her eye off her baby for just long enough for him to get into a fatal situation. Who would think that a soccer net in one’s background could be a death trap for a toddler?:

A 21-month-old Collin County boy hospitalized last week after getting tangled in a backyard soccer net has died, officials said.

And I thought it was cool when my 2 year old could be persuaded/taught to get my slippers and a diet coke:

There’s a 2-year-old hero in Oak Harbor, Wash.
When Erika Miller collapsed in her home Tuesday, her toddler Alana picked the phone and dialed 911.

And she knew just enough words to get her mom some help. The tape of Alana’s 911 call reveals the resourceful little girl’s plea for help.

A mother’s worst nightmare…

KAMAS, Utah — A 3-year-old boy who wandered from his family’s campsite was missing today in the Uinta Mountains.

The boy disappeared this morning (about 8.30 MDT) in a remote, rugged area of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, about 60 miles east of Salt Lake City.

His mother drove several miles to get cell-phone reception to call for help.

UPDATE: FOUND