Dennis M. Cook called and asked his mother to pray because his newborn girl had medical complications, his mother, Judith Cook, recalled yesterday.

The baby was hooked to an intravenous unit and could not immediately come home, Mr. Cook's mother said.

She said her son and daughter-in-law, Dana, got a scare once when the baby's health appeared to deteriorate. But Mr. Cook remained cheerful, said Judith Cook. "It was a pretty intense situation, but he always said he knew his baby was coming home."

The Cooks brought their baby, Lindsay, home to Colts Neck over the summer.

Mr. Cook was a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. He was at work when a hijacked plane crashed into the Twin Towers.

"I am devastated by this loss. It's so hard to continue on," said Judith Cook, who remembers her son picking buttercups for her when he was a boy.

Mr. Cook, 33, was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from Villanova University in 1990. While in college, he traveled to Italy on an archeological dig.

"My brother was full of life. He could remain strong throughout an ordeal," said his brother, David of Pennsylvania. "When my father died a couple of years ago, he remained strong and steady."

Mr. Cook met his wife at Villanova.

"I fell in love with him because he had a sense of humor and he was very caring," said Dana Cook, who married Mr. Cook almost six years ago. "He enjoyed spending time with me and his family."

Mr. Cook worked hard at Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was employed for six years, she said. But he rushed to their Colts Neck home every evening to spend quality time with his daughters, ages 5 months and 3 years, Dana Cook recalled.

"He couldn't wait to play with them outside," Dana Cook said. "He would take Sophia roller-skating on the block and take her bike riding."