January was a quick month, it just flew by but we have been actively working on furnishing and padding Jake’s room. Materials were ordered for the pads on Jan 30 and we have a delivery date of Feb. 20th. This is taking a bit longer than we would have liked but perfection does take time. We were able to choose a foam that was shock absorbent and a vinyl that is soft on the skin. We feel blessed to report that your donations from Jake’s Christmas Benefit and www.JakeJunction.com have completely funded the construction of the room and the custom made pads.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has agreed to help out tremendously with furnishing Jake’s new room. They have reviewed Mom’s extensive list of fun but therapeutic items and have agreed to purchase almost every item on the list. Just to give you an idea of how wonderful this room will be once completed, imagine a Ball Pit that lights up, vibrates and plays soft music when entered, yet padded on the outside. The room will be well lit with beautiful lights, a therapy swing and so much more. We even put mirrors on the list for our little vain boy. We plan to have an Open House once the room is completed so that everyone can see and feel how their donations made a difference, you helped us turn a dream into reality. The date of the open house will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.

On the medical side, Jake had a rough January. He had a nasty skin irritation misdiagnosed as a diaper rash. After seeing a Dermatologist, he was diagnosed with Eczema. It was under control within a week after using topical creams. After that, he missed 4 days of School due to a fever and bad cold which also ran its course and went away. On Jan 29th he had a visit with his ENT Doctor and we learned that Jake had a yeast infection in his ear canal so he is currently fighting that off. When Jake has an illness or pain he communicates by striking himself in the ear or head repeatedly. Needless to say it’s been a rough month of hitting, which is very taxing on both him and us. This is one of the most difficult things we face as his parents, not being able to know what ails him. We hope to have a healthy February.

We would like to introduce the newest member of our family, Justice. Justice is a 1.5 year old Black Labrador. He is very smart, absolutely loves Jake and is going to be our little helper with him. He’s hasn’t been with us even two weeks yet and he’s already learned to clean up for Mom after Jake’s meals. Ha ha. Jake pulls his ears, has poked him in the eye and pulled his tail, Justice just turns and kisses him. We think Justice might somehow “know” about Jake. He’s going to be a really great thing for our family.

The room should be done by next month's newsletter. I hope to show you a picture of him crawling in it then. As always, we can't thank you enough for your support!