Guess what?! Luke is saying some new sounds and putting them together suddenly!!! He has been saying mama, dada, nana (all 3 words pronounced with an "a" that has 2 dots above it), and A-E for Allie (short "a" and long "e" leaving the "y" out altogether).

So picture that...then yesterday he said mommY, daddY, nonnIE, aYIE, M-OR (tied together the "m" to the rest of the word "more"), and ye for yes but leaving the "s" off.

I woke up this morning to Luke talking through the baby monitor and he was saying "mommY, daddY." Music to my ears. Mornings are not my favorite time of day, but this was a sweet, sweet morning.

I can hardly believe he's going to be 2 1/2 this month. He's still doing speech therapy twice a week and Mrs. Katie has been fantastic with him. Wednesday we heard him tie some sounds together that he hadn't ever done before. He seems to be able to say some consonants and some vowels, but doesn't put them together in words. So yesterday was really exciting!

In addition to the speech, we're still praying his reflux goes away and for his lungs to become healthy and renewed completely. Luke is doing so well and is such a happy, sweet, cuddly boy with a great sense of humor and a hysterical, contagious belly laugh.

On the home front, John is still looking for a job. Thankfully, his current job got extended through the end of March/first week of April. Well, today is Friday, April 2 and he hasn't heard anything. Praying it continues for a little longer while he job hunts.

Danielle had another swim meet last weekend in San Antonio-Junior Olympics-and did very well. She qualified in 3 more events for the new season's (long course) Senior Champs, just missed another by .3 seconds, and was 1st in her age group in 2 events and 2nd in another. It was a really good meet and fun to watch.

Jake went on his first Boy Scout camping trip last weekend and was responsible with all of the other boys for taking care of themselves, including pitching their tent and cooking. He had a blast, but came home sick. Poor kid has been quarantined all week and is finally starting to feel better today.

Allie has finished all of her kindergarten work and is begging to start her next subjects. She is so excited about starting spelling, some young logic puzzles, along with the normal math, language, and reading. She's learning to write in cursive and taking piano lessons. I'm learning she's quite the perfectionist. She is not happy when she doesn't get a letter just right or if she hits a note wrong...this is going to be interesting. Hopefully, she'll relax and not be too hard on herself.

As for me, I have been a slug for the last month. I have not run or exercised at all and I feel it. The weather is beautiful and I need to get back out there. Hoping my knee and ankle have had some time to heal. They're both still a little tender. I've got to get back to my PT exercises, too. There are just not enough hours in the day. I've been so exhausted that I've actually been going to bed at a more reasonable hour this week. It seems like I can work on getting more sleep OR getting something caught up or worked on, but not both. Hmmm...

Today is Good Friday. A somber day. Thank you God for sending your Son.