It’s been a hot, dry July, but a few inches of rain over the last several days has greened up our lawns and saved the corn crop out at the farm. We’ve spent most of the month trying to keep cool, but there have been a few highlights.

After our long-awaited visit with friends in Washington D.C., they sent us the gift of a cookbook for making baby food at home. It wasn’t too many pages in before Jocelyn started acting on a longtime ambition. A few weeks before, she had met one of her favorite Food Network chefs, Tyler Florence, on a tour promoting his new baby food cookbook. Since then, our kitchen has turned into a veritable assembly line cranking out all kinds of great recipes.

I really admire my wife and have realized how uniquely gifted she is as a mom. She had wanted to transition away from jarred baby food for a while – primarily for the control over the food’s texture and what that does for Julia’s oral-motor development as she eats (can you tell she’s done her research?). Not only that, it’s cheaper and we know exactly what’s going into our girl.

With all of the new food adventures at hand, we needed to get down to Eastern Market for a food buy. It caters to commercial buyers during the week; but on the weekend, farmers and growers from all over converge and make their wares available to anyone. If you haven’t experienced it, you need to check it out. It’s one of Detroit’s gems.

Julia is doing great at ten months old. She got a glowing report from the pediatrician last month saying that despite the heart surgery (which normally sets a typical kid back a month from a developmental standpoint) and the Down Syndrome, the doctor figures she’s only six to eight weeks behind.

She has mastered sitting up and, with mom and dad’s help, is working getting from the sitting to prone position without doing a face plant. She still has her marvelous eye contact when she engages with people. I’m not sure why that excites me so, but there it is. And she still has her fans on the church staff who steal down to the daycare to get their regular “Julia Fix”.

Another highlight of the month was a visit from my sister – Julia’s aunt Lisa. She often flies in from Colorado and stays out at the farm with my dad. She last saw Julia a month after the surgery, so she was obviously happy to see her almost double her size from last time. Lisa and Jocelyn also got some time together as they explored the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Lisa is quite a veteran of the Art Fair and a great guide to the city.

There was also a new addition to our larger tribe. Olivia Renee was born on July 14th to our dear friends, Chris and Lisa. We stopped by on our way out to the farm to drop off a meal and I took the opportunity to do a quick photo session with them.

All in all, a great summer so far!