In the six weeks or so since the last update, things have been going very smoothly for Judah. He has stayed healthy, happy, playful, and a true joy to everyone who knows or meets him. In the last few weeks the end of Fall has given way to the start of Winter, which brought us Halloween and Thanksgiving, but has also taken away all the pretty leaves outside and left us with colder temperatures and our first taste of snow too. 

Winter and Flu season make it difficult to take Judah out of the house, especially to places with lots of people – and around Holiday season that’s basically everywhere. But Judah makes the most out of his days – playing at home, trips to the Library and Museum, Gramma and Grampa’s houses, and thankfully far fewer visits to the hospital for appointments. A small bug here or there aside, Judah has stayed pretty healthy since being pulled out of daycare.

And while he spends a lot more time at home in the winter, he still gets to read, learn new words, play and have lots of fun with all of his toys. He especially loves making faces in the mirror and throwing things over the baby gate.

The end of the year brings lots of Holidays and time for family and celebration. For Halloween (Mommy’s favorite holiday), we had an incredible Robin Williams Tribute theme, and Judah was the cutest Mork anyone had ever seen. Mommy as Mrs. Doubtfire and Daddy as The Genie were pretty awesome too. Mommy and Daddy even got to have a fancy night out at the Zachary’s Mission Gala, an amazing organization that’s very close to our hearts. And before we knew it Thanksgiving was here and although we couldn’t see all of our loved ones from near and far together, Judah did get to see his Grammas and Grampas and give and get lots of hugs and kisses.

This year has brought a lot of change and growth for Judah, as well as plenty of therapy sessions, doctor visits, and even a major surgery. His sign language vocabulary continues to increase and we look ahead to new methods and devices to help him communicate since he cannot make any noise. We continue to work on feeding by mouth as Judah becomes more experimental with what he’s willing to try and taste, and we work hard to get Judah breathing without his trach – however these are major challenges that sometimes make big leaps forward and other times seem to step backwards. Judah gets through all the hard work with a smile and a laugh, and almost never shows signs of frustration or anger – unless he is tired or fussy; he is still 2 years old after all. Despite everything we put him through and how hard he has to work and push, he powers through and keeps moving forward.

As the end of 2014 approaches and the Holiday season comes and goes, we send all of you our love and wish you health and happiness, today and everyday.

J-N-J