Jake Update

Jake is really walking now and it's so cute to watch him explore and smile as he is so proud of himself. He's gearing up for becoming a big brother any time now and we know he'll love his lil sis.

A photo of the lil guy enjoying himself.

Great Update

Sorry for the radio silence folks but we have just been enjoying our time with our kids spared from hospital visits etc. Jake is doing great. He sleeps through the night without issue and I am starting to think the poor kid just wanted to be left alone versus having surgeries all the time. Now that he finally had more than a few months of uninterrupted healing and good times, he has been great. Jake is developing nicely and is taking 4 steps at a time. I am sure he will join Luke soon and become the running terror. Yesterday we had an appt with the geneticist who was the first dr. to inform us of Jake's condition and all of the issues we should expect. A true man of medicine his conversations usually skew negative tied to medical fact. Well he couldn't believe how jake has progressed and attributed any delays Jake would have if any to more a result from being premature than his apert syndrome. He felt Jake really would be able to take care of himself and would fall into normal intelligence levels. It was great to hear and Jake smiled at him the whole time like he knew the news was good. That's about all for now as we await our lil girl no later than Nov. 7th. Back to our life of managed chaos. Be good.

Jake's Big Adventure

Jake is getting ready for his third airplane trip although this one a lot more joyous than trips to Boston. We are off to Israel to visit with the family and Jake and Luke will meet their cousin Elai for the first time. 14 hours on a plane with two one-year olds is not an easy task but hopefully the boys will rise to the occasion. Jake has been doing very well and his hands healing nicely. Better yet he has been sleeping in his own bed and seems to have put the non-sleeping behind him. A special trip with the family as Jake and Luke will visit Israel during its 60th anniversary. Photos and updates when we return.

Jake and Bday Cake

Our goal for this very long first year came true as we watched our lil guy use his new fingers to eat his 1st bday cake. Its hard to put in words what this moment meant for us as a family but it will go down as a hall of fame moment. We were so happy to see Jake enjoy himself knowing what he has endured this first year and still emerged a very happy little boy.

10 Fingers

Well Jake fans, it was only a year ago that I had to use every ounce of self control in the NICU to not attack the plastic surgeon who upon my meeting with him, said oh he'll have four fingers but so did Mickey Mouse. Oh and he also said it would take 10 surgeries. Instead we re-channeled our outrage and found a better dr. I guess I should be thankful to that insensitive surgeon who led us to Dr. Upton. Today 1 year later, Jake now has 10 fingers and we couldn't be happier. A visit to Children's hospital allowed for Jake to get his casts off and some splints made and we were pleasantly surprised his fingers looked much better than at this same point last time around. Little Jake went back to his favorite thing, giving us five. We also me with his craniofacial surgeon to make sure that these bumps on jake's forehead were normal and nothing we should be concerned about. He indicated that they are screws holding some pieces together that will dissolve over the course of a year. So a great day for Jake and he can go back to what he should have been doing all along just being a kid and playing. Thank you all who have helped us get through this challenging year, we look forward to some normalcy and smile knowing surgeries and hospital stays are on the shelf for a few years.
Love,
L & S