Chicago ? The Indiana soldier who fretted over extending his leave from Iraq for the birth and subsequent hospitalization of his son has had his leave extended again, this time to Jan. 3.

But the better news Wednesday was that his newborn son, Gabriel Douglas Williams, was getting over the lung infection that put him on a respirator days after birth, and could come home before his father, Sgt. Chris Williams, has to return to his post in Iraq’s complex Diyala province next week.

“The baby is improving,” said Melinda Kane, spokeswoman for Munster Community Hospital in northwest Indiana. “If the baby continues to improve, in all likelihood the baby could go home over the weekend.”