Soren update, from fimbrethil:

[coyotegoth]

Independence in the wheelchair has come at last to Soren. Sunday saw him wheeling himself out of the room with his one good foot several times. I noticed that at 3:00 when the shift changed, he went out to the desk to say hello. He was in excellent spirits, his speech has improved again and he's darned spoiled by all his outings for the holidays. When we walked in, we were greeted with the battle cry of "Applebees, Applebees, Applebees!" The restaurant is pretty much across the street and is wheelchair accessible and Soren really wanted to go out with us. Unfortunately we couldn't that day but I think he got out later in the day with Velma and another visitor. Soren was very animated and it seems his brain is running faster than his ability to speak. When he slows down and speaks carefully, the words comes out easier. But it's hard for him to slow down, I think. However, he has a lot more words than he did when we saw him last and he is able to string them together better than he did.