From: Kraig
Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>
Date: Mon
Sep 27, 2004 9:00:29 PM
America/Detroit
To: Kraig
Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>
Subject: 09-27-04 Update from Kraig, Loren and Keren
Dear Friends and Family,
Today (the 27th) is Keren's second birthday!!! It's amazing and marvelous to realize
that God has brought us this far--and we're still going strong!
As usual, time has gotten away from me and I haven't been as
diligent in our updates as I always mean to be. I couldn't let today go by, though, without sending out a
note. Nothing like a deadline!
I'm sure by now all of you are well into your fall schedules. Our lives still run by a school
calendar--I don't think it will ever be any different--and so September is the
beginning of a year for us. We're
enjoying gorgeous fall weather here in Southeast Michigan--summer decided to
come out of hibernation (we had a rather cold, wet June-August), just in time
to watch all of the leaves turn color.
Of course, now we need rain again (we've been wondering if Florida might
want to divert a little--just the rain, not the hurricanes!).
Summer was as busy as we expected, but also fun. Kraig's folks, Larry and Sharon,
arrived from Mali in mid-June and were with us till mid-August. Of course, much of that time they were
traveling to visit supporters and family, but we got some time with them :)
. Kathy, Kraig's sister, was with
us through the summer as well, and we even got a week visit from Keren's cousin,
Abby, while her mom and dad got away for a retreat. My folks and my sister Carrie were actually around the
majority of the summer, and even my sister Jessie and her husband Brian were up
a couple times. We even got to see
Kevin and Mandie (Abby's parents) briefly when we took Abby down to them. Kris and Katrina (Kraig's other bro and
sister-in-law) were around as well, and just bought a "new" home a
couple minutes from us--a fixer-upper that our family got to help them fix up a
little!
So all in all, we had a LOT of family time. The house emptied out so quickly at the
end of the summer that we were left in a daze! Not only did Kraig's folks leave for Mali, but Kathy headed
up north to Michigan Tech to finish her final semester of college. She's plowing away up there, waiting
through the final months before her husband Ryan returns from Iraq. Her dog, Ahanu, though, got to stay
with us and has the enviable ability of getting Keren to practice her
belly-laugh. None of the rest of
us seem to have that talent!
Whew! I'm trying to
streamline this, and I know I'm missing great gobs, but that's okay! I'll probably wear you out anyway!
Keren was healthy and well all summer. It was only this past week that she decided to come down
with a cold and give it to me in the bargain (another hail to the beginning of
school!). She's grown quite a bit
and is now 32" tall, and nearly 27 lbs. Her hair is now long enough that it will actually stay in
ponytails, so I usually put it up that way. Otherwise it looks like a tornado blew through it. She favors us with bigger and bigger
grins all the time, and is slowly but surely learning new things. Her biggest "steps" this
summer have been responding and interacting with us more (smiling, gabbling,
etc.). She'll hold a rattle and
shake it very intentionally (something we find extremely exciting :) !), and
just over Labor Day weekend she started to take steps! Sorry, not walking on her own--we've
got a LONG way before that--but when we hold her arms for standing, she doesn't
want to stay still any more. She's
putting one foot in front of the other!
We're still working on the idea of crawling and sitting--she sits up
quite well when in our laps, but prop her on the floor and she'll almost always
throw herself back. Oh well! One thing at a time!
We were able to do speech therapy throughout the summer, which is
actually more like "communications therapy." Her teacher, Jonelle, focused on
auditory skills. She worked with
Keren on responding appropriately to sounds (looking toward them, obeying
commands, etc.). There were
cause/effect drills and the like.
Keren is still pretty choosy about her responses, but I think she made
progress. She knows Kraig and my
voices well, and lights up when she sees someone she knows. Now that fall is here, we've gone back
to "school" which this year is seeing Francie, her physical
therapist, one-on-one once a week, and with other kids in a playgroup. She also sees another speech therapist
through the schools twice a month.
It was great to start up with Francie again, because I always need that
extra input as to which muscles we need to work on stretching, and what to
watch for, etc. We also look at
the developmental steps Keren is taking, and look ahead at what she may be able
to accomplish next.
So that's where things are with the birthday girl :) . It's definitely still hard now and then
when realization hits as to all she can't do and may never do, but there is
never a day I am not thankful that God has given her to us. We're so proud of what she has
accomplished! We have new pictures
up on our website. The pages of
Keren go through August, though tonight I'll even be updating that page
further, and I'll put up a September page soon. One thing you'll be able to see on the August page right now
is photos of one of my email listserve friends and her kids. Her son Alex is a rare trisomy--parial
trisomy 14 mosaic! He's an amazing
boy, now seventeen, and except for being very small you wouldn't guess anything
was "different" in casual conversation. In school, he has learning disabilities. Though Keren's traits are different
than Alex's in many ways, we often run into similar issues--one of the
interesting characteristics of all of the trisomies.
Kraig and I have jumped into the fall, too. Kraig is still, yep, still, finishing
his PhD dissertation (these things are interminable, aren't they?). He is actually at the stage of writing
it all out now, though, and still has the goal of presenting it to his advisory
board before the end of the semester.
He's been working temp jobs, as well. He took over Kris' job for three weeks when Kris and Katrina
were on a mission trip to Russia, and for the last two months he's been doing
bridge inspections for a friend.
He's still on the job-search path, though.
I took up two new activities this fall. I'm still watercolor painting, but I'm alternating weeks
between that and MOPS, the Mother of Preschoolers group at our church. I actually am a table-leader there, and
I am looking forward to getting to know a number of other moms. Keren enjoys the nursery while I'm
there (hmmm...maybe that's where she got her cold....). I'm also co-teaching one of the evening
women's Bible studies at church, which has been awesome so far! It's been great to get back into
teaching! And my co-teacher? My "little" sister, Carrie! We're a scary pair, probably, but we're
having fun, and the women in the class are wonderful.
Most of this fall will be spent here in Michigan. This weekend, though, Keren and I will
be taking a whirlwind trip to Philadelphia for my tenth college reunion at
Philadelphia Biblical University.
We'll connect first with one of my college roommates, Rue Ann, and then
head down together to the campus on Saturday. So for those of you in that area, if you'd like to see us
come to PBU on Saturday!
Unfortunately that's the only time we'll be able to be right there. Kraig wishes he could come, but he's
somewhat strapped to his computer at the moment (to say the least!). Who knows, we may also get to visit
Jessie and Brian this fall, too, as Brian has just gotten a job in Cleveland,
Ohio, only 2 1/2 hours from us!
We're looking forward to them being so close.
I think that's it for our news! Here's our web address again, for those who don't remember
it: http://webpages.eng.wayne.edu/~ad6075
Remember, you can click on pictures on the various pages to see a
bigger photo. I'll let you know
when I have more pictures up.
Much love,
Loren for the gang