Big Catch Up!

Hey everybody, we're still here I promise! Starting tomorrow a crazy 16 weeks of school begins, so I figured this is the best time to catch everyone up on the past month and a half. I don't know why it has taken so long, but we have a lot to cover. So here goes. 

December was a odd month for all of us. At the beginning we were looking so forward to Christmas, then on the 3rd we lost my grandma. She was a huge part to all of our lives. She would babysit Luke at least once a week for me. We also spent at least once a night each week with her while Jonathin worked. Everything happened so sudden and unexpectedly. So the month left everyone in my family a little lost. However, we pulled it together and even though it was a little sad and different, we had a good Christmas. Luke didn't mind another visit from Santa this year either instead of going to the mall to see him there. 

 In December we also made a trip to Indianapolis for a visit to Riley. It was a pulmonary check-up since Luke had been sick a month before and we needed to follow-up with them. His doctors decided to start him on a daily inhaler just to keep his lungs strong. Luke is not a fan of the inhaler, just due to the mask and chamber that goes along with it. However, it is easier than doing a nebulizer twice a day.

Indiana Basketball has hit it's stride also around here. Luke has his striped pants and is ready for this season. He is also to blame for their one loss, which also means that is due to his mom too. We didn't dress him in crimson and cream that night against Butler. Oh well, we think we did them a favor to alleviate some pressure on the guys. We won't do it again though. Go Hoosiers!

So far we have had our moments with our feeding tube. As of two weeks ago Luke is 18.5 pounds. I feel that he is getting heavier. No week is the same. If Luke is sick we have to dial down the feeds. If were feeling good, then we have to work our way back up to full feeds. Throw in a goofy schedule and that makes things funny. The little extra weight is helping with some sitting also. Luke is trying to sit himself up, but it looks a lot like baby crunches. His therapists are happy with the progress. I just wish it  was little quicker. He has been spending a lot more time in his exersaucer lately. He really enjoys it FINALLY. I'm actually afraid he might break it. He is a roller also. He will take off across the floor when you aren't looking. Earlier this week he was in the basement and ended up rolling into the entertainment center and scratched his face. It didn't mind after about 15 seconds.

We also have been waiting patiently for the BIG GAME. That being BCS National Championship Football Game. This little boy hadn't missed a game all season and he wasn't going to start with this one. However, it would have been okay if he went to bed, cause he wouldn't have missed much. Him and his daddy were dressed to impress in all Notre Dame, but even that didn't help the team. It was a good season though, and we are ready for next year.

We've started watching movies and actually paying attention here lately. Also Luke got a DVD/VCR for Christmas this year. So I've been letting him watch movies throughout the day. His favorite is still The Lion King, but he is just starting the Disney collection. Just yesterday we were at my parent's house picking up some of my VHS tapes for him to start watching. He is more into the musical parts, but who isn't really. I just want to give him plenty of time to learn some characters before his first trip to Disney in 22 months, but hey who is counting.

Luke and Quin have been hanging out over the school break also. Luke can still fit in Quin's baby stroller...barely. So Quin has been practicing pushing Luke for the trip to Disney also.

We spent New Years at my grandparents house. Luke stayed awake till midnight, more than I can say about his dad. This year we have many goals for Luke and for us as a family. This is the year for sitting and crawling. Maybe, just maybe a few steps also. We would love Luke to get over his food adversion. Hopefully we can get Luke to take more feeds by mouth and can wean some from the tube. Just really hope that this year is a year of catching up.

This is also the year I can finally finish school and can go to work full time. However, that may be with Luke and his status. It would be nice to have a little more money to work on our house. Slowly we would like to make some upgrades to start making it our own.

Finally, we have signed up for March of Dimes and their March for Babies walk in April. Luke's team is known as Superman's Squad. The walk in April 20th in Elkhart. We hope to have a large walking crew with us. Our goal is to raise $500 before the walk. You can help us, either by donating or walking with us. We hope to also have shirts made for the walk. Any little thing is help to us. I will have more next update, which hopefully will be within a week or so. We are headed to Riley on Wednesday to see Developmental Peds and are hoping to finally get some answers on the delays that Luke experiences.  Hope we have caught you all up. School starts tomorrow and it is going to get crazy here real soon. Hope everyone has a great week.

Jordan