Welcome back and thanks again for joining us as we continue to watch young Judah grow and thrive! Judah is doing fantastically at home, where he has been now for almost 8 weeks after spending his first 6 months of life in the hospital. At home, Judah can play with all of his toys, hang out on the couch with his monkey, sit in a variety of rocking, bouncing, and swaying chairs, and even as we saw in the last update playing in his Wonderbug.
The last couple of weeks have brought additional changes and excitement! Judah is now visited at home once a week by each an Occupational Therapist to help him work on his feeding skills, as well as a Physical Therapist to help him develop his gross motor skills. OT has given us some new ideas and ways to play to incorporate making eating less intimidating and more pleasurable for Judah, including a high chair and allowing him to get down and dirty with his food, as well as just playing with the food and letting him put things in his mouth on his own. Judah does very well with his pacifier and is getting better with the spoon, but once a flavor is introduced he does not love the taste in his mouth. For most of his life he has taken almost all of his food through a feeding tube (currently a Mic-Key button directly into his stomach). He continues to work, and shows signs of improvement already. For now though, his hand is still tastiest of all.
We continue to try to get Judah outside as often as possible, and the Springtime here in Pittsburgh has been lovely so far (except for daddy’s allergies). Judah goes for walks every day it is nice outside with mommy, his dog Rider, and the nurse, and on the weekends when Daddy is around during the day we continue going out often to the park or to Oakland, where daddy works. Recently we were able to take little J to an event hosted by the Carnegie Library and the Carnegie Museum called “Play Day”, where they opened up the museum and all the grounds around it and had puppet shows, and games and activities, and Judah got to see the dinosaurs at the museum for the first time. He had a lovely time and even got to see where daddy works!
Judah has also recently taken a great interest in musical instruments, as he loves playing with his drum and his newest toy, his piano! He really has some talent building here, and you can see him already in great thought as he works on his first Sonata.
Overall Judah continues to thrive at home, and we couldn’t be happier to have him here. He is the most wonderful and well mannered child we’ve ever known, and quite possibly topping the charts as far as cutest baby of all time. Even his cardiologists continue to be impressed by him, and at his appointment with cardiology today they continued to adjust, and in many cases reduce some of the medications he is on as they are no longer needed. His recent x-rays and echocardiogram both came back with very positive results, showing great heart function. Judah continues working on his CPAP trials and moving forward every week, increasing the amount of time per day that he is on the lowest ventilator settings. We could not be more proud of our little man!
Our continued thanks and love to all of you for your continued love and support.
J-N-J
Love all pictures, cannot wait to hold him myself, love you all guys, doing a very good job!
Woooo– what a delightful update posting!! Loved all the photos, too– and that video of piano playing is truly precious. Yes, such *concentration*– he was really *listening* to what was happening…. and he knew *he* was making it happen ;-).
So grateful for all these beautiful spring days so you all can get outside so often! AND so wonderful that Judah is moving ahead on *SO* many fronts– eating, breathing, sitting, music making, and heart-beating ;-).
You all made my day!!
Lots of love,
Susan (who’s looking forward to your first post that Judah is coming to Tot Shabbat at Rodef Shalom 😉 )
Thank you for the update! Everything sounds very upbeat and positive! It’s so nice to hear about Judah being home with you guys and doing everything a little guy his age should be doing. Continued prayers and love for all three of you. We pray for continued weaning off of all the meds and tubes. God bless!
Judah is growing so fast! I can’t believe the new changes I see in him. I know that being home with Mommy and Daddy is the right place for him. You would never know how sick he was by just looking at his face! I wish continued health and happiness for Judah…and Mommy and Daddy, as well!
It is so great to hear such positive news from you. May we always hear only good news from each other. But to hear about Judah’s wonferful progress is a special treat treat. Love, Menella and Misha
He is so beautiful. Glad to hear everything is going well. Being able to take him outside is great, the fresh air is good for kids. I loved seeing the pictures of him, he looks so happy. I know mom & dad are happy to have there little man home and doing so well. Judah keep up the good work… God bless all of you and I will keep praying everything continues to go well…
He is just so beautiful, I just want to give him a big hug, I loved watching him play the piano, he’s a natural at it, have fun in the sun, take care
Such good news. Here you had a wonderful weekend with Gma/Gpa Jones, Pat’s family and Rachel. Love the pictures and the piano recital! God’s Blessings.
Great Aunt Sue
Pictures are great. Judah is so photogenic, it’s incredible. Home coming is most positive thing for him. Look like he is improving daily. Good Luck, our wonderful, Judah. His grandpa Mark played guitar and singed very good in his younger years. Jessica is an actress. Judah has to go farther in this area. Our Judah has a lot of talent in different areas. He is a charmer and performer for sure as of now. Can not wait to be able to hold him. I realize, we have to stay in line for this privilege. We are ready. Dear J-N-J we love you very much and wish you everything the best for now and always.
I’m so delighted to see that Judah is coming along so well. I know this is tough on all of you. At the same time, each day must bring a new joy. All of you are in my prayers.
In Christian Love,
Gary Ferrence