Ali's Illness

It was confirmed on Monday that Ali has contracted a disease common to 2-3 yr olds. Experts tell us that most kid's outgrow it (like asthma) but it could take several years. They say that it can be as early as 1-2 years and in some rare cases they never outgrow it. Luckily, it's not believed to be contagious at this time. Though we've been seeing the early signs, we were saddened and shocked when we realized she was one of the millions of children who have diarrhea of the mouth. We have found only two things that help subdue the disease, though both are temporary fixes. The first one- eating- when it works only helps for about 20 minutes. The second one- sleeping- has been the most effective at curbing symptoms and is the only thing keeping us going right now. It's ironic that when Ali was younger we enjoyed and even encouraged her recitation of poetry and singing songs. Now we can't get her to stop. To illustrate the effects of the illness, I will share two examples.

#1: The other day Ali and I (Sarah) were driving to drop off our car payment (15 minute drive each way). Ali decided that the clouds looked like an elephant. Ali repeated for at least 10 minutes "The coulds look like elephants." It did not matter to her that I was saying things such as "Yeah, they do" or "Yes, I see" or "The clouds DO look like elephants". She acted as though she didn't hear me, which upon reflection she might not have heard me over her own loud voice. She stopped repeating this phrase so abruptly I thought something was wrong. When I looked back, she was asleep. Just like that.

#2: Ali has been watching a new Disney cartoon called Little Einsteins. (It is made by the Baby Einstein company for preschoolers.) In it she learns music words like diminuendo, pizzicato, and accelerando. They also feature a few measures from a classical music piece and make it into a little song. (To hear an example of this, see the previous post entitled "Ali wishes you a happy Halloween"). Ali gets these tunes and others stuck in her head. Apparently she has to have constant noise issuing from her mouth. As a result, she is singing these tunes and if she can't remember the words or is too lazy to sing them, she inserts "ducka ducka". For example, think of the "A, B, C" song. She would sing this: "duck-a duck-a, duckaducka duh; duck- a duck- a duckaducka duh" ALL DAY LONG

To aid in the funding of research to find a cure for this disease, we have opened a foundation in Ali's honor. It is called the Send Us Money to Shut Our Kid Up Foundation. You may make contributions at the following address:

29517 SW Meadows Loop #44 Wilsonville, OR 97070

We accept all cash and check donations. (No credit/debit cards, please.) If you know anyone who has a child suffering from this disease, please share our heart-felt condolences.

The Dance of the Halloween Fairy

Here is a funny little video for your viewing enjoyment. (It's a little long so if you have a slow computer, you may want to pass on this.)Dance-of-the-Halloween-Fairy

Happy Halloween Wishes

Ali wishes you all Happy Halloween.