Baby

Los Angeles police and city officials Tuesday announced a $50,000 reward for information in the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy and pleaded with the public to help apprehend the suspect. Mauro Cortez was cradling his 1-year-old son, Angel Mauro Cortez Nava, in his arms about 7:50 p.m. Monday on a sidewalk near 105th and Hickory streets when a man on a bike opened fire, the Los Angeles Police Department said. At a press conference to announce the reward, Deputy Police Chief Pat Gannon held photos of the child, whom he called "this beautiful little Angel.

Facebook has added "Expecting a Baby" to its list of Life Events for users' Timelines. "Life Events are easy and expressive ways to mark significant moments in your life such as getting married, buying a house or traveling to new places," Facebook said in a release . "If you choose to, you can now share that you are expecting a baby with your friends on Facebook. " The social network announced the addition this week, which expecting parents will likely appreciate while users who are already flooded with pictures of their friends' babies probably won't.

The Scramble Bug from QuickSmart may be the thing for the traveling toddler. The sturdy ride-on starter bike looks like a big wacky insect, with four double wheels for “feet,” and handlebars rising from a bug-eyed plastic “head” like antennae. The double wheels rotate 360 degrees, so junior can steer the insect forward, backward or in circles. The bug-cycle folds nearly flat (about 28 by 14 by 6 inches) for storage and transport, and weighs just 6.4 pounds. It's designed for children ages 1 to 3, comes in four colors and can be used inside or out. Also available in a tricycle model, called the Scuttle Bug. Scramble Bug is $59.99; Scuttle Bug, $49.99.

The woman whose baby died Wednesday after s he threw him from a four-story parking garage was depressed and "didn't know what she was doing," her husband has said. According to mental health experts, the period after pregnancy produces the highest lifetime risk of mental illness in women. Sonia Hermosillo has been charged with murder, accused of throwing her 7-month-old son, Noe Medina Jr., from a parking structure in Orange on Monday. The child died of his injuries Wednesday at UC Irvine Medical Center.

Three new studies show that most adults have unexpectedly large and active deposits of a calorie-burning type of fat that biologists once thought disappeared after infancy. The persistence of brown fat suggests a potential new strategy to fight obesity, which is epidemic in the United States and increasing rapidly in the developing world.

There has to be something ironic in one of those "Baby on Board" signs being placed in the lower right -hand corner of a car's rear window, thus compounding the driver's "blind spot." I saw one of those safety contradictions the other day. Pulling up beside the car at a light, I looked over and saw four adults. No baby, of course. Just someone infantile at the wheel J. ROBERT CONROY Costa Mesa