Shark Attack!

We were really bummed to discover that we left Rat Fink at home. Rat Fink kept Jake company throughout his two previous hospital stays. Aside from being born in the year of the rat, we thought Rat Fink would serve as a reminder of his Brooklyn roots. Rat Fink was quite the talk of the nurses when Jake was in the ICU last time.

Jake has a new friend. Meet Sharky. Not only does Jake love Sharky, he also provides his parents with hours of entertainment.

Happy Half-Birthday

Jake turned is six months old today.


Month one was terrifying. We had no idea what would happen with Jake when he was born and spent most of his first month wondering if he would need surgery. Month two was great. We brought our little boy home and jumped right into family life. Month 3 was a lot of fun. We were really starting to know our son and were watching him learn new things everyday. Month 4 started good enough but ended horribly with Jake in the hospital having suffered a full cardiac arrest. Month 5 was trying. We came to Boston for Jake's open heart surgery. I have the feeling Month 6 will be good because Jake's heart is improved and we should be taking him home soon.


The laughter, happiness and joy we've experience in these past six months far outweigh the tears, sadness and anger. We would do it all over again because now we have the most beautiful, strong and resilient little boy and we couldn't imagine life without him.

Happy half-birthday Jake. We love you and are so proud of how far you've come.

Tales from Toyland - Taggy the Tag-O-Saurus

Jake has a new favorite toy - Tag-O-Saurus! It's soft and silky on top with a rougher fabric on the bottom. It's educational and sensory and stimulates grabbing with 8 different tags running down it's back. Jake just loves it.


We give it to him while he's laying on his back and he kicks his feet up and then roll over and hugs it.

When plays with it in his bouncy seat he usually ends up kicking or throwing it to the floor. Then we give it back to him, only to pick it back up for him again. If I didn't know better I'd think it was becomming a sort of game for him.

Throw your legs in the air!

Jake has always moved his legs like crazy (see "March to the Barch" post). Just recently he's started throwing them in the air. He likes to just hang out with his legs up. We caught him in the act the night before his surgery.

It was nice to see him so happy and active that night since we knew it would be awhile before he'd be able to do this again. He's starting to move his legs again now, mainly kicking them in agitation and protest. But here and there he's doing Jakey things, like kicking his leg up for no apparant reason. We know its just a matter of time before he's back at it full force.

Weird Boston

Some insights, annoyances, and observations on Boston:

You don’t go to a deli and order a sandwich on a roll, you order it on a bulkie roll. The other day I ordered tuna salad on a roll with lettuce and the deli clerk literally had no idea what kind of bread I wanted.

All young nurses have giant rock engagement rings. All old nurses have four or more kids, usually boys. I wonder if the giant rock is the consolation prize for having to pop out kids in rapid succession.

Just because Massachusetts state law require vehicles to yield for pedestrians in crosswalks does not mean you can just step out in front of a moving car and expect it to stop. Furthermore, if you are at a 4-way intersection and the light says don’t walk, it is ok to walk if no cars are coming.

The Trader Joes has its own dedicated traffic cop. Now, this is just not some employee with a day-glow orange vest on. This is an actual law enforcement officer. I wonder if they fight over who gets Trader Joe’s duty and who has to patrol Roxbury.

Red Sox fans are ridiculously fanatical. They will beat you silly if you wear a Yankees hat. If a Yankees fan is a barking dog, a Red Sox fan is a rabid barking dog.

There are more Croc wearers per capita than anywhere else in the world, even Boulder, Colorado where those god-awful shoes originated.

All bars are decorated in kelly green, wood paneling and brass.

My Little Boy

There's just something about this picture that I love, and I think I've just figured out what it is. Jake looks like such a little boy here, no longer my little baby, my little boy!

I always look at Jake and say, "you'll never be this small again". And yes, just like every normal parent, that makes me a little sad.

I read a comment on another "heart mom" blog recently that said the time other people spend lamenting the fact that their babies are growing up they have spent hoping their baby would get to grow up. I understand this, but honestly, I have never ever felt this. I've never had any doubt that Jake would get to grow up - to have his first day of school, learn to ride a bike, skin his knees, shed some tears, make friends, get in fights, fall in love, have his heart broken, talk back to us.... I can imagine Jake's future with us, and to me, it looks very bright.

I look at my little boy now and think about how grown up he already is, how much he's already had to endure in his short life, and how much he's already taught us. I look at him in awe and I just know my little boy will go on to do more great and wonderful things. He is truly our hero.

Annual Casden Day

September 9th from here on out is Annual Casden Day!

September 9th, 2006 is the day Greg and I were married. September 9th, 2008 is the day Jake had open heart surgery to fix up his ticker. This will forever be a day for us to celebrate together as a family.

Jake was essentially in heart failure. When we were at Columbia/Presbyterian, they treated the symptom of the problem. We came to Boston to fix the problem.

It's too early to tell if the surgery worked, but our little guy is hanging in there. In the words of our surgeon, Dr. Del Nido, Jake is a champ! Jake's surgery is detailed on his Care Page so I'll spare the details here. So far Jake's echo shows definite improvement and we feel optimistic. We're in the difficult balancing phase of Jake's recovery. He needs his sedation to keep his pressures down but he needs it lifted to get off the ventilator. We've had a couple set backs after two good post-op days. Everyone feels Jake just needs more time to recover. The hardest part is not seeing him smile and play, or be able to touch and hold him. It's a frustrating and worrisome time but I'm confident we'll have our bug back soon.

Here he is recovering the day after his surgery.

Doped up!

Jake is doped up! He's on a continuous morphine drip with hourly boulous doses of methadone and ativan and versed. He's built up quite a tolorance to narcotics over his past two hospital stays. The nurse assures me that this will in no way make him suceptable to addiction later in life. After going through what we've been through already, I'm inclined to think the teenage drug expirementation years will be a breeze.

This is Jake jacked up on methadone the day before we went home from Columbia Presbyterian. The CBGBs onesie makes this picture that much more hilarious. I myself have ended up wasted and cross-eyed more than once after a long night at CBs.

Parlor Tricks

Jake has a new trick. He can hold his bottle on his own!

Yeah, I know you're not supposed to let your 5 month old hold their own bottle. There's the risk of choking and then tooth decay (if he had teeth). But this was just so cute not to snap a quick picture before holding the bottle for him.

Jake's other new trick is taking his binky out and putting it back in. I have yet to get this feat on film. Jake grabs his binky, takes it out of his mouth and then tries, usually in vein, to put it back in. Every once in awhile he hits his target. The rest of the times he puts it in backwards, throws or drops it, or aims for his eye. It's hilarious to watch.

It's so much fun to watch him grow and learn. Just the other day he rolled over from his back to his stomach. He's discovered his legs and feet the other day. He kicks them like crazy now and grabs them when he's playing. When he's on his back they are straight up in the air. when he's sitting, they're going nonstop. He lifts his entire butt and back up off the crib and "scooches" all over the place. He amazes us everyday.

Jake had open heart surgery yesterday. It's hard to see him all doped up on pain meds and paralytics. They'll slowly start to wake him up, but it will be quite awhile until he's totally active again. I can't wait to see those tiny legs going again soon. Hopefully it won't take him too long to pick up right where he left off.