Spring has come to Michigan and the crocuses and forsythia have started to make their appearance along Humphrey Avenue. And, like a houseguest who has overstayed his welcome, Old Man Winter is poised for one last whack at us with a forecasted snow storm expected to dump four or five inches in some spots overnight.

A lot has happened in the last month for our little girl and life has a way of stealing the time that I would have normally spent updating everyone. But all it takes is a gentle nudge from a family member that they need their “Julia Fix” and here I am, jumping back in. Fortunately, we had already done a little impromptu photo session this morning before church.

As you can see, our little girl is thriving and happy; although I wonder whether someone came in overnight a couple weeks ago and replaced her brain with one giant drool gland. Julia has begun teething in earnest and she sees just about anything we put in front of her as an opportunity to gnaw.

Julia has made the successful transition into daycare (two and a half days a week) and the ladies there love her. Fortunately, it’s right at my office and it’s great to be able to take a break from my day and stop down to see her. In the meantime, Jocelyn has started back part time with her company running their marketing and social media.

We are especially excited that Julia’s progressing so well in her development AND that we have the expertise of the folks at Early On, the special education department at Birmingham Schools to guide us. They have given us a lot of great pointers and techniques to get her caught up. Julia’s now rolling over from her back to her belly with ease and can roll off her belly with a little bit of coaching. We’re still working to strengthen her core so she can sit up on her own; but the staff has been so encouraging, I’m half expecting her to be doing long division by the end of the summer.

There’s a lot to celebrate. It was a year ago that we were getting the scary news about Julia’s heart condition and Down Syndrome. We’re coming up on her seven month birthday later this week and are planning something as normal as a summer vacation in June. We have pretty typical dreams and fears for our kid now and it’s feeling very good. Thanks for all of your love and encouragement!