June has for the most part been a great month for Judah. He has hit a growth spurt the last few weeks, and every day looks more and more like a little boy, and not just a baby. On monday Judah will be 42 weeks old, which is how long mommy was pregnant with him, so he will officially be out longer than he was in. Our little J has gotten to do a lot more travelling this month, with trips downtown to the Arts Festival, going to the Library and Museum, and last weekend he had a major event, and a huge trip to Temple for the first time to officially be welcomed into the community and receive his Jewish name.

Judah is now approaching 19lbs! After each of his surgeries he would fall behind a little bit on putting on weight, but Judah has been catching up very well. His doctors are incredibly pleased with his weigh and development, things that can be especially difficult for heart babies. Judah is right on track developmentally, and every time his therapists come to visit they are amazed at how well he is doing since the last time they saw him, Judah is now a pro at sitting up on his own, and standing up is a piece of cake these days! We have begun to help teach him how to take his first steps, and you can see in his eyes how badly he just wants to get up and motor around. Helping to make it even easier for him, Judah has now been approved to begin sprints off of the vent completely! We have worked our way up to 2 half hour sprints each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Working with our doctors and team we are confident that he will be increasing these sprints for longer duration every week.

Judah loves being off the vent, and he barely even notices the difference. While off the vent we try to go outside on our deck at home, or just walk around the house. He has even had a few sprints while on trips outside of the house too, including at the library. Additionally, Judah just keeps popping out teeth! It seems like the teething never stops with him, and we have now seen 4-6 more teeth coming in over the last few weeks, bringing Judah’s total count of teeth up to about 10 teeth! He may have his full set of baby teeth soon!

Although the month has been for the most part pretty good, we did have an episode early in June that brought us back to the Emergency Room. The last few weeks Judah has been having some irregular heart rhythms and arrhythmia’s again. After many appointments and discussions with our cardiologist, and several adjustments to medication doses, things are finally starting to settle down again in Judah’s heart. Although there is no concrete explanation for the erratic heart rates, there are many theories, ranging from Judah’s growth spurt and weight gain making his medication doses less effective, to a minor infection he had that was treated with some antibiotics, and others. Whatever the cause was, we continue to work with our team, and as always monitor him very closely to make sure everything is going well. Even with the crazy heart rates and all of the new teeth coming in, Judah is still the most pleasant and happy smiley baby. He is a delight and continues to charm everyone who sees him.

We would also like to thank everyone who was able to join Judah and us at our temple last week to be with us for Judah’s baby naming. Judah was called up on the Bimah (the platform at the front of a synagogue where the Torah is read) and the Rabbis gave him blessings and a chance to touch the Torah. Judah finally received his Hebrew name – Yehuda Lev Chaim Mikhael. Yehuda is the hebrew name for Judah meaning “praise”, Lev means “heart”, Chaim means “life”, and Mikhael is Michael meaning “who is like god?”. We added the Lev Chaim “heart of life” to his name as a symbol and testament to all Judah has been through and overcome. We again thank everyone who was able to attend, and all who sent their thoughts, prayers and blessings, not just last weekend, but over the last 9+ months. We could not have come this far without all of you and your support.

J-N-J