Sydney

I think I heard a This American Life segment once about how the most common blog entry starts with, "I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted" - I'd like to add my name to the list of absentee blog-lords.  So, sorry if you've been waiting a long time for this.

We spent a week in Sydney with my parents, at a hotel right downtown that had 2 bedrooms and a nice living room and small but adequate kitchen.  It was a really nice way to spend time in the city - we were surrounded by an amazing array of transit types, there were grocery  stores and restaurants all over the place, and it was good to have space for Owen to play where we could all be together.  And it had a hardwired landline telephone!  So exciting for Owen, who has very rarely seen one in his life (maybe that accounts for his somewhat stiff formality in this photo...)

Sydney definitely deserves it's reputation as one of the world's beautiful cities - the integration of the city with the harbor is definitely my favorite part - not just the opera house but all the other little fingers of green that stick out into the water, with parks and houses and walking paths right on the edge, looking out over the thousands of boats.  I took a local ferry that stopped at 5 or 6 tiny docks, not much bigger than an urban bus stop.  I would love to commute this way.

Owen loved the transportation, too - although he's definitely not a fan of wind - on this ferry ride he struggled to choose between opening the window to see more, and closing it to keep the wind out.  In the end, he just opened it and closed it again and again to get the best of both worlds.

Owen had some great adventures with Nanny and Poppy - the aquarium, the zoo, the maritime museum...

Before we arrived in Hobart, a friend here said that summer in Tasmania would pass for winter anywhere else in Australia - the reverse is probably also true - it was warm enough at the depth of winter for a day at the beach playing in the surf.

And a colleague of Jayde's recommended a very, very nice Taiwanese restaurant - one of the nicest places we've eaten since Owen was born - so we went twice, and on the second trip we bought this amazing dessert called "Piggies visit Totoro's house" or something like that.  It was, frankly, better to look at than eat, but Owen (a big Totoro fan) was pretty happy.

So with that, I'll sign off with what is probably the second most common blog sentence - I promise I'll post more soon!

Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Today is my dad's birthday - and although we're meeting up with him and my mom in Sydney in a few days, we wanted to wish him a happy birthday today.  So here are Owen and me, singing and playing our ukuleles.

Also, happy 4th of July!

Baby-ccino

I just realized I mentioned Owen's baby-ccino in a previous post but didn't describe it to the poor uninitiated among you.  Let me help (as a neophyte myself, it's my duty) - a baby-ccino is what you get for your child at a cafe when he or she is old enough to understand that an espresso beverage is something of very high importance and a bringer of great pleasure, but is not yet old enough for a latte or even a hot chocolate.  It's just foamed milk (often just foam - no liquid milk at all) with a dash of cocoa powder on top.  It's how cafes get your kids addicted to the experience of going for your daily cuppa.  And, diabolically, they're often free.  And, of course, Owen learned the word immediately, and asks for one regularly.  I can't really blame him - hanging out in a cafe and enjoying a good latte (although here a flat white is my drink of choice) is one of life's great pleasures, IMHO.

The Sign of the Devil (and the Echidna and the Penguin)

So in case you were wondering, the sign I used on the top of this blog is a real wildlife warning sign in Tasmania:

from http://broomee.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/wildlife-crossing-signs-tasmania/

I haven't seen one yet, but I'm keeping my eyes out for them when I drive.  And for penguins:

http://www.galloimages.co.za/image/street-sign-warning-of-little-blue/1178666/1

Echidnas? Yes:

http://10000birds.com/tasmania-rarely-seen-road-signs.htm

Wombats, perhaps?

http://10000birds.com/tasmania-rarely-seen-road-signs.htm

I don't know if this big fella really lives in Tasmania, but it looks like he is doing a number on that car:

http://10000birds.com/tasmania-rarely-seen-road-signs.htm

So maybe it's just as well we haven't gotten out much - looks like a creature-infested world out there.

Our Worldly Possessions

Our shipment of goods arrived on Wednesday, and it was with a mixture of relief and dread that I watched them unloading the truck.  It sure seemed like a lot of junk, all piled up!


Happily, it was a dry morning (it's winter here, remember...) and the mountain (Mt. Wellington - Hobart's small but impressive local lordly peak) was out, in fine form (unfortunately partially blocked by a power pole):

Owen was on lookout for the truck (any possibility of a truck sighting is cause for great excitement):

And there it is, looking like it came straight off the ship, rather than over-ferry and overland from Melbourne:

Owen supervised the movers from the driveway, baby-ccino in hand (as a good supervisor should):

After a few hours, here they are, all our worldly possessions:

Maybe the most important single item was Owen's train table, which he hadn't seen, but Jayde and I had been eagerly anticipating (thanks, family - at last it has arrived!)  Owen helped with assembly:

 And here it is, all put together (the tracks were an after-bedtime assembly project):

This last picture is was taken about 8 am - by 9 most of the tracks had been disassembled and many, many more cars, trucks, and planes had entered the scene - like a mini-history of late 20th Century US (and Australia) rail transportation, played out in the living room of our home!  I'm so proud!

More Owen videos

Hopefully this is what you're here to see - sorry that there hasn't been much other content yet...but since most of my daily life revolves around Owen, this is pretty much what life in Hobart has been like so far...

Here's Owen singing Happy Birthday (again, with a pot set out in case we want to contribute to his college fund)

And here he is eating pomegranate.  We got a pomegranate from a friend, and we made this to send to her to show how much he enjoyed it.  (And at every subsequent pomegranate eating session Owen has asked to be photographed or recorded - in his mind the two go together) 

Busking

I bought 2 little soprano ukuleles for Owen and me, since I've wanted to learn and Owen is fascinated by string instruments in general (all generically called banjos in Owen-speak).  I also fantasize about starting a father-son ukulele band.  Owen and I get our inspiration from this guy:

There's a great open-air market in Hobart on Saturdays, and we often go for breakfast and to shop for fruit and veg.  (Yes, that's what you should call it here.)  There are plenty of buskers throughout the market, and Owen enjoys watching them and giving them coins (he no longer takes coins OUT of their hats/cases/etc, which is a relief).  So Owen often sits on the floor to play ukulele with a pan or box in front of him, and sometimes asks for coins after playing and singing.  I didn't catch him asking, but here he is, making a living the best he can:

Owen dances with Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka

So this is a bit out of chronological order, but it was a special request:


Before we came to Tasmania, a friend sent us a few discs of In the Night Garden..., a BBC children's series that features a bunch of quirky toys and creatures come to life (that's how I think of them, anyway.  I'm not sure what the creators were thinking.)  


Owen loved the show right away, and we watch an episode most days (the other days he watches Totoro, but that's another story).  The characters have become a big part of Owen's imagination and daily storytelling - and he interacts with the show (telling characters what to do and playing along).


In many episodes, a group dance ends the show.  If you haven't seen it, you can watch a little clip here:

And here's Owen dancing along.  The kiss-blowing is based on Upsy Daisy's dance style.  The other characters that Owen mentions are Makka Pakka (he says Makka Makka) and Iggle Piggle (Owen calls him Iggle Wiggle).

It's a new day

Welcome!  The Devil You Know is here to reassure you that Lee, Jayde, and Owen are alive and well, and have not fallen off the bottom of the Earth, nor have been run over by an Antarctic iceberg that drifted too far north, nor have been eaten by carnivorous marsupials or giant Australian spiders.  It's just taken a long time to get semi-settled here in lovely Sandy Bay.


This blog is an attempt to do 3 things:

• Keep family and friends up to date on our goings-on, Owen's newest vocabulary, our work or our lack thereof,
• Show off what we discover about the city of Hobart, the state of Tasmania, or Australia as a whole, and
• Try to convince you to come visit

So, with that, onward and upward!  I'll try to keep postings coming along, so they may be short, and I will doubtlessly lean heavily on pictures and less on thousands of words.  So, to start us off right...a photo of the Derwent River near sunrise on my first full day in Tasmania.  There are some benefits to jetlag!

April 5, 2012 - sunrise from our balcony.