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.