Get her dancing early! Three pairs of socks fashioned like classic ballet slippers come in a clear gift box with a floppy pink bow–no need to gift wrap. Classic colours, black, white and pink pair perfect with denim, dresses or jammies. 100% cotton, these socks are super-soft and breathable.

 $14.99, Target.com

It’s hard to say what’s cutest about this kiddo.

Is it the chubby cheeks? Her dramatic costume change? Or is it how she says, “I love you, New York” with flair?  It all adds up to one adorable video that, according to YouTube commenters, Taylor Swift herself has seen and passed along.

Perhaps the best part of this performance is that there’s no sign of Kanye West popping up out of nowhere to interrupt — although her little brother does try to steal the show with his brand-new-baby fuzzhead.

via Buzzfeed

This is so cute, and only mildly disturbing. Watch 5-year-old Wesley play Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues – an ode to drugs, sex and murder. Somehow his long bob hair-cut and sweet little voice make it all OK.

[Via Dlisted]

After a whopping 22 months of pregnancy, former Bangkok street elephant Thong Dee has given birth to Australia’s first native-born elephant at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

Born at 3.08am on Saturday, the still-unnamed male calf weighs in at around 100kg and was born after a three-hour labour.

Zoo staff have said that the calf is healthy and already showing signs of an assertive personality, however he is being kept away from a curious public for the time being, though monitored in his barn on CCTV.

Thong Dee was one of eight elephants brought to Australia from Thailand in October 2006 as part of a zoo breeding program. Of those, one male and four females settled in at Taronga Zoo. While she was the first elephant to give birth, two other female elephants at Taronga Zoo, Porntip and Pak Boon, are due to give birth in early 2010 and 2011.

Zoo spokesperson Guy Cooper said he was delighted by the success of Taronga’s elephant breeding program.

“I don’t think we really anticipated we would have three of four calves pregnant by this stage,” he said.

Pregnancy and birth is very risky for female elephants – statistically there is around a 40 – 50% mortality rate with first-time elephant pregnancies. But if these pregnancies are successful they will be the starting point for a self sustaining Asian Elephant population in Australia, and play a large part in raising awareness of issues affecting the survival of Asian Elephants.

You can watch footage of the baby elephant at the Taronga Zoo website, and enter a competition to name him.

MomLogic says that the “best line ever uttered by a dad” is “I felt cold drool on my head.” (I thought it was “WOW! THAT NAPPY SMELLS LIKE CHERNOBYL!”)

I know that I used to feel that baby drool was gross. Until I experienced my own kids’ drool. It’s still a little gross, especially when it dries. But somehow, when it’s drool that fell from the mouth of your very baby, it’s not so bad.

Source: MomLogic

This little fella was born at the Smithsonian zoo in Washington, D.C last week.

He and his fellow cubs are the first of their kind to be born at the zoo in 16 years, and hand-raising is crucial to ensure their survival. Parents Hannibal and Jao Chu were imported from Thailand last year and are suspected to have mated several months ago.

So what’s cuter than this little guy?

TWO rare baby clouded leopards!

Zooborns via Hoyden About Town.

There’s a gorgeous story about a thirsty little koala doing the rounds on email at the moment.

Titled ‘Heatwave – 116 degrees over the last few days’ (that’s 46 degrees in celcius!) it reads,
“You know it’s hot in Australia when a koala crawls into your garage and waits for you to fill a bucket with water, take a drink and then hop into it.”

Watch the koala take a drink after the jump!

Thanks Shane!

This little Madagascar lemur was born at Besancon Zoo in eastern France. She’s named Tahina and is considered one of 17 Propithecus coronatus lemurs living in custody around the world.

She’s not with her real mother, for reasons I am not sure about, so zookeepers are doing their best to keep her nurtured as well as she would be in the wild by her own mama lemur. Veterinarians feed her with a small syringe containing a mixture of cat and infant formula.

She was also given the cuddly –and lemurlike — teddy bear that she can clutch to like a real mother. Lemurs are believed to ride on their mother’s bellies in their first weeks, so having this snuggly companion to cling to helps her calm her fears and feel comforted.

Lemurs are endangered in their native lands in eastern Madagascar because they are actually considered delicacies, and they are also facing habitat destruction.

Proof that mothers are hardwired to nurture? This picture kind of makes me want to cry – and go hug my own little baby.

It’s nice to know that if you do use a real, live pine tree at Christmastime it won’t necessarily be thrown on the waste heap. Over in Germany, Christmas trees are fed to the animals at Dresden Zoo.

Elephant calf Thabo-Umasai joined camels, deer, and sheep in a traditional new-year feast of Christmas trees just after the new year. Each elephant received about five Christmas trees each. The pine trees’ unique oils are said to aid some animals’ digestion.

Indeed, pine bark extract is being used in some medicinal compounds for humans as well. All hail the humble pine tree!

[National Geographic via Inhabitots]

When photographer Barry Bland went to take photos of Rishi in his new home, he brought along his two-year-old daughter, Emily. As you can tell from these photos, Rishi and Emily became fast friends, which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it: they both communicate largely with their hands, they have the same interests (playing, eating, napping), and they are both the most winsome members of their respective species.

 Photos: CFP