After spending close to 7 Months in the hospital, exactly one year ago today Judah came home for the first time. When we brought him home Judah couldn’t sit up on his own, was on ventilator support 24 hours a day, and was just a chubby bean.
In the year he has been home, he has grown stronger and developed faster than many thought was possible. He continues to get smarter, more curious, and cuter by the day.
Today Judah is an unstoppable walking force. He walks all around the house, up and down the hallways, making his way up all of the steps completely on his own. He knows which books he wants to read, what games he wants to play, and where he wants to go. He continues to learn more words with his sign language, and has been completely off the ventilator day and night for close to 5 weeks now, while tolerating it amazingly.
A recent evaluation from the company that provides Early Intervention Therapy (Judah’s physical, occupational, and speech therapists) showed test scores mostly on the high end and above average for Judah’s age, and he is even showing skills and traits well beyond his age. Judah is still behind a little bit in a few categories, since feeding is such a difficulty and his verbal communication is nonexistent since he cannot make noise, but his cognitive function, personal-social interaction, and his receptive language scores are extremely high. His therapists and doctors are absolutely amazed at how well he is doing, but when you look in his eyes his brilliance should be no surprise.
Soon Judah will have an appointment with the Combined Airway Clinic, and we hope to get more information about what will come next as far as his reconstructive surgery and decannulation. But today, one year from coming home we can look back and see how far he has already come.Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, words, and love, they have truly helped us get this far, and continue to push us forward.
Our love
J-N-J
😀
All it takes is one look at that smiling little face and my heart melts. Judah has been through so much and come out a winner, and for that I could not be more thankful. I am so happy to learn of all his progress and to see his bright shining face!
Judah is so blessed. You are absolutely amazing parents. He is going to blow you away with his strength, wisdom, and love. What a gift.
Wonderful update on a milestone anniversary! Go Judah!
Thank you so much for the update. Thank God for such progress in the past year.
I love the tee shirt…….you are all AWESOME
Love, Marian
He is so big and cute which is no surprise, he looks like his parents.
Video with Judah walking absolutely great.
Love you all
What a wonderful tribute to an amazing family!
You rock!
That boy is absolutely delightful! So happy for him to have such a wonderful, safe, love-filled home and family. Hi Judah!
another great,uplifting post ! We loved the video of Judah walking ! Pictures were cute,as usual (btw, where did all that hair come from all of a sudden??!!). He is a handsome,happy little guy! And that makes us happy!
I don’t comment often, but I read very post. On this amazing anniversary, I thought I would write to share in your joy. Judah is one amazing little boy! I have fallen in love with him without ever meeting him! I am blessed every time I see another picture of him. He reminds me of how God takes the most difficult situation and turns it into something better than it would have been originally. Judah is a testament to the divine gift of human love and perseverance.
Please keep the pictures and stories coming. On a “down” day, Judah’s darling face lifts me up. When I lack the strength to move forward, he shares his determination with me.
May you too continue to be strengthened by Judah, by the many people who walk with you and by those who pray with and for you.
Carolyn