Several weeks ago I wrote a post that mentioned Faith's favorite books are from the How Do Dinosaurs series. In a serendipitous turn of events, a reader (and author, see her books here) who happens to read this blog also happens to be friends with the author of the How Do Dinosaurs series, Jane Yolen. Within a few hours I received a lovely e-mail from both authors. A week later a package arrived at our door filled with dinosaur goodies (books, a DVD, stuffed animal, etc). Last week when Faith was in the hospital, another package arrived, this time it was the just released How Do Dinosaurs Laugh Out Loud? book, signed by Ms. Yolen herself.

The teacher in me was ecstatic to have an autographed copy from such a celebrated author. The mom in me was touched that someone whom we've never met reached out and made our little girl's day.

Here's a pic of Faith "roaring" with her new dino friends.

As it turned out we were on the cutting edge of learning how dinosaurs laugh and we're on the verge of hearing Faith's. When she laughs we definitely hear more air behind it, but it's still a work in progress. For now she's enjoying ROARING with her new dino stuff, and we're loving every minute of it.

A special thank you to Margaret, Heidi, and Ms. Yolen for helping bring out our little dino's laugh.

Jen & CO.

PS: In my excitement I forgot to mention Faith's breathing, which has greatly improved since my last post. It's not perfect, but it's livable. The coming weeks will be telling as Faith is coming off of heavy doses of steroids, which have a history of masking some her her underlying issues.