*/January 21, 2007/*
Two months have passed very quickly since my last update on little
Brett. We are thankful to report that he is gaining weight and is now
around 17 ½ lbs. He looks chunky and feels chunky when we carry him
around. We continue to oral feed him daily, and we have even been able
to use a sippy cup that does not require sucking to put liquid into his
mouth. He does not get much in the way of oral food, but at least there
is some going in normally. We will rejoice when Brett gets excited about
food!

Finding a place for Brett to sleep soon presented a problem, since we
don’t have a lot of space for a crib. After doing a little rearranging
in the boys’ room, Jan came up with a great idea. We’d use a small
cupboard with a counter top to be the base for a bed that we’d ask our
carpenter friend, Joel, to build. Jan came up with the design of the
bed, and Joel came within a day to get the dimensions. It took Joel
about two weeks to complete it. He found the boards down in the town
right nearby us. It is really nice to have Brett out of the way of the
breeze which flows nicely through the room, and now there is more floor
space for Derek.

*/Brett does not escape Therapy/*
One of the hardest parts of coming back to Haiti was knowing that
Brett’s therapy sessions would come to a screeching halt. About 2 weeks
after arriving, a fellow missionary from Port-a-Pimet was visiting our
home. She had been to Port and was delivering my /Dr Pepper /she had
bought for me/. /She watched Brett, who was lying on the floor, for a
while and then indicated she was excited to see him roll from side to
side. We began talking and I soon realized she knew more than the
average person about Brett’s movements. I questioned her more and soon
found out that she is a Physical Therapist and that she worked with
handicapped babies for 20 years before getting married and moving to
Haiti with her husband. She is German, so her practice was in Germany.
She came back later and observed him some more giving me some things to
work on. About 3 weeks later she and her husband come to the Compound
again, this time for a 2 week vacation. She spent many days working with
Brett and training us to work with him. It was wonderful. We hope she’ll
be able to come every 4-6wks to keep us going. Many of the missionaries,
who don’t see Brett that often, mention that they can tell he is getting
stronger. God is so good. He cares about the details of our life. Our
job is to trust Him and rest in Him.

*/Overall Health/*
Thankfully Brett has been basically in good health. He started out in
November with a cold, and then went right into another one after a few
days break. Since then he’s had a light case of pink eye, which resolved
itself after a few days of eye ointment. Brett saw a Haitian Doctor at
the clinic. It just happened to be the same Doctor who did my ultrasound
on Brett during the summer of 2005.

**

*Contented Baby Syndrome continues…*
Brett continues to be a content baby, although we have noticed a slight
change over the past week. It seems he does have times during the day
that he likes to be held or patted or touched. Because he quits his
whining when we pick him up, it tells us he likes our interaction with
him. Lately I’ve noticed when I put him on his tummy he will roll to his
back as soon as he can get all the muscles to work with him. He usually
is fussy on his tummy, and as soon as he rolls to his back, he is happy!
He is doing much better at holding his head up when he is on his tummy.
It is very hard work for him.

*/In Closing/*
It is time to close and again thank those who pray for Brett and care
about his progress. Over the past week I’ve heard 2 stories about
handicapped babies here in Haiti, who were left at the local hospital
when the mother realized her baby had a problem. It is very difficult
for families to understand the problems and many let their “slow”
children just lie in bed because they don’t know what to do with them.
Maybe in the future, God can use us to encourage families that struggle
with children who are handicapped. May God give us all the grace to do
whatever He has called us to do.

In Christ, Jan, Val and Brett