You don’t have to tell us that moms rock! Just look at the gorgeous women who walked the red carpet last night. Tell us which one was your favorite!

Which celeb mom do you think was best-dressed at the Oscars?

Plus, more from The Bump:

How to Revamp Your Wardrobe Post-Baby

Quick and Easy New-Mom Hairstyles

What to Wear to a Wedding When You’re Pregnant

“Please don’t put your fork in your eye!”

No, seriously, I actually said that this week, to both my husband and my son…. Yep. My husband was sitting at the dinner table playing peekaboo with our 20 month old toddler, hiding his eyes behind his fork. It was a fun game, until our son decided he’d like to play, and started pressing his fork into his eyes. Thankfully, he was eating with a plastic toddler fork, and we were able to quickly redirect his attention to something else. But, we’re there — in the toddler monkey see, monkey do stage.

As a newborn and infant, while you know your child is watching you, I think a lot of parents continue to act like they would relaxing at home, maybe a bit less socially appropriate or child appropriate than you would be in public.

I know personally that I have a penchant for rap music and as in the past my son was still too small to understand, there were certainly a few times when I had an inappropriate song playing where he was able to hear. When they are so little, you relax a little and some let loose the occasional — or not so occasional — swear word at times. I found myself thinking that as a little baby he didn’t understand yet, and I’d change my habits when he did begin to get it.

Now he gets it.

It’s a whole different stage of parenting when your child now imitates everything that you do in public and in private. While it is 100 percent part of the learning process, and how they learn to interact with their environment, as a parent, you need to be on your best behavior. At all times. Which is sort of exhausting.

Not only do you have to put your completely socially appropriate self forward while in social situations to teach your child acceptable pragmatic skills, now you have to continue that at home when your child is watching. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

I know that there will be certainly some slip-ups on my and my husband’s part in the future, because really, who can be perfect all of the time? But hopefully we’ll teach our son to keep his fork out of his eyes… and other social graces.

What’s the funniest thing your child has done to imitate you?

With new studies suggesting motherhood is in the genes, we thought about the moms we know (or rather, watch on TV) and wondered which ones were meant to be moms. Here are five women who got the role right, and five who should have passed on parenthood.

Did we forget your favorite (or least favorite) TV mom? Let us know!

Plus, more from The Bump:

Are You Ready for a Baby?

You Know You’re a Mom When . . . 

Biggest Mommy Regrets

We all know about mom jeans. You know, those way too high-waist, tight-in-the-crotch pants that you think are flattering. But now, scientists think they’ve found a different, more important type of mom gene.

Researchers at Rockefeller University believe a single gene, referred to as the “mommy gene,” could be responsible for motivating women to protect, feed and raise children. In the study, published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists injected a group of “mice moms” with an inhibitor that blocks a specific estrogen receptor in their brains, essentially “turning off” the gene. Once the mice received the blocker, they simply stopped caring for their babies.

“Once the gene was silenced, not only did the moms not nurse or lick their baby pups, but they wouldn’t even move the baby mice back into the cage or fight off a strange intruder,” Ana Ribeiro, one of the authors, told Today.com. “In other words, our study shows that, without this gene, the skills to be ‘a good mom’ were lost.”

Some may be quick to dismiss findings from mice. However, Ribeiro notes that the same alpha estrogen receptor is expressed in women, and that suppressing this gene could affect a woman’s maternal behavior. She believes some women carry this gene and some don’t.

While more research needs to be done, it’s clear that there is something that makes women “good” at motherhood. And I don’t think it’s the denim.

Do you think the mommy gene exists? Do you know anyone who you think might not have it?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Are You Ready for a Baby?

You Know You’re a Mom When . . . 

Biggest Mommy Regrets

My Facebook page currently features an image of a mom in a Wonder Woman costume nursing Baby Superman. Not surprisingly, I am a breastfeeding momma myself, currently approaching month eight with our little girl, Evie. While a red satin bustier does sound appealing in terms of being able to easily whip out my boob on demand — and the shiny gold belt would perfectly cover up my c-section scar — I haven’t decided what I’m going to dress up as on October 31, as I’m too busy obsessing over Evie’s first ever Halloween costume (I’ve narrowed the options down to Madonna circa 1985 and a ladybug.) But if I do decide to dress up, a number of perfect new mommy-esque costumes await me, most of them easily thrown together with objects currently lying around my tornado of a home:

Costume: New mommy

Accessories: Milk-splattered nursing tank with one strap unhooked, exposing breast; smoky gray eye shadow for enhancing undereye dark circles; Crisco to massage into scalp for that “I haven’t washed my hair in five days” look; sweat pants with cotton mesh hospital underwear peeking over the waistband; three-month-old pedicure.

Costume: Female reproductive tract

Accessories: Write “UTERUS” across the chest of an old tank top; underneath, wear a turtleneck in a contrasting color and have a friend write “FALLOPIAN TUBE” on each arm. Buy a pair of stretchy cotton gloves in yet another color and label them each “OVARY.” Walk around with your arms raised above your head all night long.

Costume: Sexy Reproductive Endocrinologist

Accessories: Super-tight lab coat with plunging neckline; white stiletto heels with red American crosses on the sides; shove five baby dolls in a doctor’s satchel so their heads all peek out of the top. When children approach you yelling, “Trick or Treat!”, hand them a vial of Follicle Stimulating Hormone. Bonus: Drive around in the most expensive car you can find and slap a “My Other Car is a Petri Dish” bumper sticker across the back fender.

Costume: The Baby Whisperer

Accessories: Dark blue button down shirt, tie and stethoscope; carry a copy of The Happiest Baby on the Block; name tag that reads “Harvey Karp, MD”; go up to everyone and yell, “SHHHH!” while wildy gesticulating with a swinging-baby motion.

Costume: Professional wrestler named “The Sultan of Swaddle”

Accessories: Sew a toga out of Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blankets;  cinch it with a gold Championship-style belt with giant letter “S”. Gold lame knee-high platform boots. Swaddle a Cabbage Patch Kid and tuck him under your arm, along with a copy of Baby-Gami: Baby Wrapping for Beginners. Carry around a spray bottle full of tanning oil so you can constantly mist yourself (a good swaddler breaks a sweat).

Costume: Lactation Consultant

Accessories: Breast pump to carry on your shoulder; My Brest Friend Velcro-strapped around your waist; string a long piece of yarn through multiple nipple shields and wear them around your neck like a necklace; ILCA nametag; baby bottle to drink champagne out of at the party. Give yourself a dual-handed knuckle tattoo that reads BREAST = BEST. Optional: “La Leche League Forever” lower back tattoo.

Like Wonder Woman Leslie? Follow her on Twitter @LeslieGoldman or Facebook

Follow Leslie’s breast pump @ThePumptyDance

Read her blog @ HealthBreaksLoose.com

The moms on our message boards shared the moment when they realized they’d really entered motherhood.

Tell us, when did you know you were a mom?

Save the Children published their 13^th annual State of the World’s Mothers report today and there are some surprising results. In the Best and Worst Places to Be a Mom ranking, the U.S. came in at 25^th place compared to 165 other countries. Norway was in first place and Niger was in last place – replacing Afghanistan for the first time in two years. The rankings look at factors like mother’s health, education and economic status, plus child’s health and nutrition.

Some differences between Niger and Norway include: 100% of births are supervised by medical professionals in Norway, compared to one-third in Niger; a child’s risk of death is 1 in 333 in Norway, compared to 1 in 7 in Niger; and the maternal death risk is 1 in 7,6000 in Norway, compared to 1 in 16 women in Niger.

So why didn’t the U.S. have a higher ranking? “While the US has moved up in the rankings, ahead of last year’s 31^st place, we still fall below most wealthy nations,” said Carolyn Miles, President & CEO of Save the Children.  “A woman in the US is more than 7 times as likely to die of a pregnancy-related cause in her lifetime than a woman in Italy or Ireland.  When it comes to the number of children enrolled in preschools or the political status of women, the United States also places in the bottom 10 countries of the developed world.” Moms in the U.S. have a 1 in 2,100 risk of dying from something pregnancy-related, which was the highest among of any industrialized nation. Plus, the mortality rate of children for the U.S. ranks 41st. Also, the U.S. maternity leave policies are the poorest of any wealthy nation because there isn’t guaranteed paid leave for every working mother.

Nutrition is one of the major factors that decide the rankings – of the 10 countries at the bottom of the list, seven are in food crises right now. The report showed that educating mothers and encouraging them to breastfeed could save one million children a year – only 40 percent of infants in developing countries benefit from exclusive breastfeeding.

Save the Children is focusing on asking world leaders to take global action for malnutrition, especially since the G8 Summit is taking place in two weeks.

Surprised by the stats? Do you think where you live is a great place to be a mom?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Feel-Good Stories Every Mom Needs to Hear

Staying Calm Tips for New Moms

Top 10 Fears of New Moms

We’re not suggesting you get too weird with the whole matchy thing. After all, the looks little kids and moms can get away with differ quite a bit. But if you do it tastefully (and not with perfect matches), it can be really sweet to match your little girl, especially if you’re going somewhere festive together, like a birthday party or baby or bridal shower. We love this polka-dot dress (for mom) and romper (for baby). Want to know where you can find them?

Head over to The Blush to get more details and see more stylish mother-daughter looks.

Plus, more from The Bump:

Quick and Easy New-Mom Hairstyles

How to Revamp Your Wardrobe Post-Baby

Adorable Baby Clothes

Can you believe the 2012 Summer Olympics are just around the corner? We’re getting excited for it! To get ready for the Games, Procter & Gamble created this sweet ad honoring everything that moms do to help support their athlete children — from little league and peewee teams all the way to the Olympics! The video ends with, “The hardest job in the world, is the best job in the world.”

Seriously, try not to watch this video without getting teary! We dare you.

Are you excited for the London 2012 Olympics? What do you think of this ad?