Adventures of a Family

After the three of us spent a lovely weekend together (which included camping in our backyard-super fun!) it came to my attention that things are starting to feel easy, or normal between the three of us. I suppose we have practiced and been in enough situations with Jonah now, that we're not constantly breaking new ground. We know how to take him to the grocery store, we know what time we need to show up at a friends house for dinner so we can still get home and get the little man to bed on time, we know what it's like to take him to the doctor and a million other little situations we've had to test out over the past months. So I guess the lesson to all of you who don't yet have kids....be kind to yourselves during this major upheaval in your lives..realize that it's going to take a while before you start to feel really comfortable, and give your partner and your relationship time and space to work out all the kinks. What you'll end up with is pure joy. -The Ma

This is just a test to see if I can get audio to play in the blog. The tune is one I have been working on that takes an 8 second sample, provided by the now defunct audio portion of www.whiplax.com , and I select smaller millisecond pieces of the sample, stretch, reverse and otherwise mangle and then create tonal instruments, rhythm and textures/pads and then use these to compose the tune. Eventually I hope to include some sounds as well as video on the site so that you can get an even better idea how happy our lives are with Jonah in them.

Grandpa and Grandma Diltz bought Jonah an incredible new toy (the exersaucer). We call it "the time machine" as it looks like something one of H.G. Wells' characters might step into, manipulate a few knobs, and end up meeting Morlocks, our ancient ancestors Homo Habilis, or hang out with a founding father or two. Jonah absolutely loves this thing and, given no time restrictions, could probably just hang out in this thing all day though pooping and eating get in the way at times.

Dear Auntie Deanna, I can't wait to see you again. I have learned many new things since you last saw me. I can make giant spit bubbles, squeal, make chicken sounds, smile really big, roll over (kind of), and turn pages in a book while daddy reads to me. I hope you have a fun birthday. I can't wait to have my own birthday. Daddy made a little sign and I tried to hold it but it tasted so good that I just tried to gnaw on it. Love, Jonah Elias Timetraveler Diltz Happy birthday sis. I love you.

It is our friend and neighbor Terri's birthday. We are going to go to their home in shifts to sing 80's karaoke tunes and celebrate with our awesome neighbors. Jonah felt bad that he couldn't make it but he had to get his own drink on at home and then off to slumberland for him. He made this poster for us to give to Terri, but we didn't have the heart to tell him that he used the back of our credit card bill and we didn't think she'd want it anyway if it were us handing it to her rather than cute little smiley Jonah. So.... Here is the picture of the poster with Jonah in it. Happy Birthday Terri.

Jonah played host to a touring rock band, The MayFire , last weekend. He had a blast meeting new people and you really couldn't find a better group of folks then Rob, Felipe, Kat, and Nachito. Next time they come through town on tour I will be sure and have a blog posting prior to the event so you all will know where you need to be.

When I see Jonah's face each day it makes me so happy to know his needs are being met and he is thriving. It also makes me sad thinking how this type of happiness is destroyed in most all of us due to the hectic and frequently inhumane world we have accepted as normal. Each and every day Jonah reminds me that we don't have to give up our love for little things in life. Shit, this is the guy who giggles when I look at him with an expectant smile and busts up laughing whenever I stick his foot in my mouth and hum a tune. So, your job today and for as long as possible, do something little that makes you and those around you happy. Do you remember how good that feels? Need an idea on where to begin? Find someone with clean feet and stick their foot in your mouth and hum the tune to Gilligan's Island (The Munsters works well too.)

(michael) - We are getting closer to completing the backyard garden. Though I have not been able to spend too much time back there lately. We are learning to grow vegetables and currently have planted in the photos here; potato, green bush bean, tomato, beet, cucumber, summer squash, cantaloupe, cabbage, leeks, carrots, lettuce, green onion, bok choy, hot peppers, kale and snow peas (raspberries and blueberries and a lonely single strawberry plant too). Of course so much of this is an experiment, and we ended up growing small quantities of many things, that I doubt we will see all of this grow in the space provided, but it sure is fun trying. I have learned that it is pretty darn easy to get a seed to sprout and grow into a plant. Getting it to thrive is what takes work. And it seems to me that it's the same way with people.

1. Putting on your shoes. This should definitely be done before putting the baby in the carrier because it is incredibly difficult to be able to reach around the baby, lift your leg high enough, grab hold of the shoe, fit the shoe on the foot and tie it tight enough for a long walk. 2. Drinking beer while feeding a bottle to the baby. It's incredbily hard to get the rhythm. When raising your own glass you will invariably end up tipping the baby's bottle back too. And when you return the glass to it's full and upright position on the table, you will be detaching the bottle nipple from his firm mouth grip with the other hand. However, the big difference is you can choose to pick the beer back up and begin anew. The baby just juts out the lower lip and gets ready to explode if his needs aren't met in 3....2....1.... 3. Digging. Whether you are using a garden shovel or a big manly hole diggin' shovel, this task just doesn't work with baby. Unless of c

You just need a sharpie and a shirt you don't mind messing with. Since we have this same shirt in 0-3 month, 3-6 month AND 6-9 month size I figured it was okay.