Baby girl's rare skin condition makes hugging impossible

Hugs make us feel nice, happy and safe. But did you know that it's possible for hugs to be extremely painful- so painful, in fact, that some people can never ever be hugged? Two-month-old Kiira Kinkle was born with an extremely rare disease called recessive dystrophic epidemolysis bullosa. If anyone hugs her, or even if a clothing tag rubs against her skin, her skin develops painful blisters."A clothing tag or rough fabric or even me picking her up under her arm can cause blisters. I can't hold her hand because it's constantly bandaged. There is no skin-to-skin contact," said her mother, Kirsti Kinkle.

Every day Kirsti and her husband, who live in Lincoln, California, have to spend at least two hours a day individually wrapping Kiira's fingers and toes in gauze before wrapping them in bandages. She has to wear very soft clothes and has to be wrapped in a blanket before anyone can pick her up.To make things even worse, there is no cure or treatment for this disease other wrapping the body in bandages."Everything right now is just a treatment to improve conditions but not get rid of it," said Kirsti.Kiira's older sisters want to be able to play with her, but, at least right now, they can't do anything more than a game of peek-a-boo with her.If you had Kiira's condition, what sort of things would you be unable to do? Tell us what you think are some good ways for Kiira to have fun when she is older that won't cause her to get blisters.

-Internet

Man becomes first to reach South Pole solo

A Quebec man has completed a journey most people will never take in a very unusual way, and earned himself a spot in the record books.On Christmas Day, 37-year-old Frederic Dion arrived at the South Pole after a 45-day, 3,000-kilometre (1,800-mile) journey by kite ski, making himself the first person to reach the Earth's most southern point all alone.He battled winds up to 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour and temperatures as cold as minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit)!His journey started on the Antarctic coast and took him to the South Pole of Inaccessibility, the most remote part of Antarctica and the most challenging part of the continent to reach because it's the farthest point from the ocean.

From there, Dion travelled another 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) over nine days to the geographic South Pole."Being the first person in the world to get to the centre of Antarctica, that was my dream. I don't tell everybody to do this, but we all have some dreams and some passions to go with," he said.Dion's journey isn't over yet, though. He is now trying to reach the Hercules Inlet on the opposite side of the continent from where he started his journey, and has about 1,130 kilometres (700 miles) to go.

-Internet

Long lost painting discovered in Stuart Little movie

A painting that had been missing since the 1920s was rediscovered as a piece of art in the 1999 Stuart Little movie by a Hungarian art historian!Gergely Barki was watching the movie with his daughter in 2009 when he noticed the painting, "Sleeping Lady with Black Vase" by Robert Bereny, hanging above the fireplace in the family's living room."I went to the television and tried to clean the windscreen. Is it real?" he said.Barki couldn't believe his eyes and had to watch for the painting to appear in another scene to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. Sure enough, it makes several appearances in the movie.

He began contacting people who worked on the movie to try and track down the classic 10 years after the movie was released. He eventually learned that the painting was bought for $500 by an assistant set designer who later sold it to a private art collector.That collector has now brought the painting to Budapest for an upcoming auction at Hungary's Virag Judit auction house. Its starting price is $138,000, but it is expected to sell for up to $325,000! -Internet