Padababy

Gen and Jared had their baby this week. And by Gen and Jared, I mean Genevieve (Cortese) and Jared Padalecki. They’re famous people, in case you didn’t know. Jared stars as Sam Winchester on one of my favorite shows, Supernatural. They’ve only been married a couple years, and this is their first child.

I often know about impending celebrity babies, not because I care, but because people talk about it a lot (and also because one of my most embarrassing guilty pleasures is – I’ll admit it – reading Star). If I think about it at all, the thoughts are usually an idle curiosity about what the kid will look like in twenty years, or occasionally something more specific like “Oh good god, why is it even legal for Snooki to reproduce?”  I’ve never really cared or been happy for any celebrity who’s had a kid. I guess when I was a lot younger, I cared in that I was jealous of whatever woman was having the child of whomever I happened to be obsessed with at the time. But now that I’m older and I don’t want children of my own, I don’t have any of that jealousy. I’d say it makes a difference that I’m not “obsessed” with Jared (oh, I know he’s hot, but I’m so much more a Jensen girl), but it really doesn’t. The other celebrity couple I love is Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts. I had a fit over him for a few months of last year, and I was envious of her, but not jealous. They both seem really cool, and I’m glad they’re together and glad they have children together. So I guess I’ve grown out of that.

As far as famous couples go, I also really like Gen and Jared. I don’t know much at all about them, but they seem like good people. Like actual humans. And they seem happy. So then, since they both seem so nice, I like them together, and they make me happy. And even though I don’t want a kid of my own, the fact that they’re happy about having a kid makes me happy, too. It’s a silly way to feel, but I know it’s common…or at least I think it is.

See? They're cute.

So anyway, they had a kid. And you know what they named him? Not Apple or Peaches or Haven or Blue or Kal-El or Kyd or Bronx.

Thomas

Colton

That’s it. That’s right: it’s a name. It’s not a noun or an adjective or a made-up word. It’s an actual name for an actual person.

Not to mention the coolness of the fact that they’ve asked their fans to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital instead of sending them gifts. They’ve already gotten more than $40,000 of donations in their names, and they’re planning on matching the total.

Thanks for being – or at least seeming like – real people, guys.

And congratulations!