Wow, Deanna was right. I needed to update this thing! We have had a lot of changes since October. On November 11th, Jason and I found out that we are expecting in July. Our official due date is July 13th. Jason should be returning from Afghanistan mid-June and if everything goes as planned, will be there for the baby's arrival.
Speaking of Jason, he's doing as good as can be expected in Afghanistan. We are 4 months into the deployment and 3 more to go. It seems like such a long time away from now. I just can't wait for him to be home. Luke has changed so much and I can't wait to see the two of them together. There isn't a day that goes by that Luke doesn't mention Dada. Every motorcycle he sees on the road, he points out and then says Dada - basically because Jason has a motorcycle and Luke wants to make sure that I know this fact. Crazy kid.
Moving onto Luke, there have been some big changes with him lately! He was discharged from Easter SEALS - meaning he no longer has a speech delay. He is functioning at his age level for speech. Although sometimes I still think he's further behind than he actually is. It is definitely difficult to not be paranoid about insecurities I have about Luke's development. Luke's 2nd cousin, Xyler, is a huge talker! He is very good and putting words and phrases together and he's 6 weeks younger than Luke. Hard to not compare, but I know that Luke's progress and development is right on course. Now, I will have to brag about my son a little bit. When it comes to his body, Luke is advanced beyond his age. On the developmental chart, he can already to things that aren't supposed to happen until 28 months - that's 6 months from now! Luke can walk up and down stairs unassisted; he can walk backwards further than 20 feet; he can aim and make a basket with a ball standing a few feet away; he can jump with both feet off the ground; he can catch a ball and throw it back; oh yeah, and his newest accomplishment? He's potty trained - well, at least the pee part. We haven't quite done the poop in the potty yet! I will have to say, other than one day this past week, potty training Luke has been pretty easy. He can hold his bladder through the night - and has been since January. He doesn't pee during naps. Today, while we were out shopping he said he had to go poop (which is just code for the bathroom, everything to Luke is poop) and we weren't near a bathroom. He walked two streets over and crossed a cross walk before finding a bathroom and didn't have an accident. He waited to pee on the potty. He's been in underwear since Monday and has only had an accident a day when he poops. I have yet to be able to convince him to poop on the toliet and am open to suggestions!
Luke is going with me to a doctor's appointment on Wednesday for the new baby. I'm excited for Luke to hear the baby's heartbeat and hopefully start to understand what's going on. He kisses my belly and will point to my belly if I ask him where the baby is, but I know that he really has no idea what's going on. In February, we found out that we are having a girl. I am thrilled and skeptical. I don't quite believe that we are having a girl. Nonetheless, we are going forth with names and trying to figure out how a girl will fit in our family. Jason and I love the name Kate. We just don't know if it will be a first or middle name or what other name to go with it. My favorite is Alivia-Kate (no middle name) Cordes. We will have to see. Jason likes Katie Brooke Cordes (yuck! blah!) and some other name that was just as bad. No offense to anyone named Brooke or Katie.
Okay, I have so much more to say, but I'm exhausted and must get to bed. Luke likes to wake up early!
