Australia Day, summer foliage, friends!

Monday was Australia Day here in Australia. It's the official national day of Australia, commemorating the arrival of the first fleet of Brits to arrive on Ozzie shores (not when Australia was 'discovered' by Captain Cook - that was 18 years earlier - the fleet was on a mission to establish a penal colony for the British Empire). It's celebrated every year on Jan. 26.

Needless to say, there are many in the Aboriginal community who aren't too fond of celebrating the day the first fleet of British soldiers showed up to inhabit the country and many Australians feel that Australia Day should be celebrated on a different day. The Prime Minister responded to these requests with a flat-out, "No," during his Australia Day press conference/party.

Anyhoo! We observed Australia Day the way we saw most other Australians doing it - we bought some Chinese-made Australia stuff and watched sports (the Australian Open).

Front and back of our genuine Australia Day stubbies coolers

A new tree has started blooming on our street - the Ivory Curl Flower (Buckinghamia celcissima). I haven't been out much beyond our neighborhood, so I don't know how prevalent it is around other parts of the city, but it's certainly a dominant plant on our block. They are so fragrant! I think they smell like a candy factory.

Looking down the street at the row of Ivory Curl Flower trees

Just one in full bloom. Smells delicious.

Our friends Eddie and Lisa arrived today on their way to Papua New Guinea where they will be living for the next couple of years doing medical entomology. They left San Francisco Wednesday night and arrived here at 7:30 Friday morning. They were total champions and stayed awake until 8 pm to fight the jetlag. They're our first friends from home to meet Miss Rox in person! She must have been excited to meet them because she couldn't get to sleep last night.

Inauguration Day!

The TV caption says it all.

The Australian TV started their coverage of the inauguration at 2 am on our Wednesday. Although I'm sure the baby and I were up at some point during the live coverage of the swearing in and Obama's speech, we didn't turn on the tv until the next morning to see part of the endless parade and the rebroadcast of everything. Our newscast said 2 billion people tuned in to watch! Amazing.

Insane Qantas Sale!

Check out the sale here!

Less than $800 to Brissie from the West Coast and less than $1000 to Brissie from the East Coast!

Sale is over on Monday...

And then there were three...

Doreen (Mena), Nate and Roxy

Nate's mom left for Philadelphia a couple of days ago. She arrived in Brisbane the same day as Roxy and we (me, especially) were definitely sad to see her go (it's not that Nate wasn't sad, it's just that he's too macho to show it). To all expectant parents: Find yourself a Doreen to live with you for a month when your baby is born. She makes delicious meals, sings wonderful baby songs and is over-the-top generous. Thanks for everything, Doreen! I'm sorry Roxy didn't start really smiling until the day you left. Just think of all of the smiles and laughs you'll get next time you see her!

Vegans! Avert your eyes!

For Doreen's farewell meal, Nate prepared a recipe from Cook's Illustrated's Fall Special Edition issue. Osso Bucco. Yes, it's veal, and yes, it was delicious.

Wee Roxy

Now we're on our own and we've handled things pretty well so far. Roxy's five weeks old and up to 4 kilos! Whenever I'm out with her in the baby carrier, the most common comment I get is, "Oh! What a tiny [wee, little, small, other diminutive adjective] baby!" The electrician that came by the other day and actually asked me if she's healthy! "Well, it's just that she's so tiny!" I think he must be used to large babies because he is Samoan and could probably fit her entire body in one hand.

Staci and coy Roxy

We also had a visit last week from my cousin Staci! She is in Australia with her family and was in Brisbane for a day or two. It was so nice to see her and talk with her about a lot of things and she shared a lot of advice about being a new mom. The timing of her visit couldn't have been better, for a number of reasons... it's funny how the universe works... The day after she stopped in for a visit, she and her husband Michael showed up on our doorstep with an instant baby shower! They gave us all sorts of useful and practical items (including a swing, which has been wonderful!), toys and other sundries. I think I might have scared them because I cried (happy tears) practically the entire time they were here. Their generosity was quite overwhelming for this new mum! Thanks, Staci, for taking time out of your vacation to look after us!

Roxy getting pumped in her new gym

So now we're back to the daily grind. We're surviving our first tropical summer. We've had a couple of really uncomfortable days, but for the most part, it's been pretty tolerable (knock on wood). I'm afraid the bub is going to be too big for all of the newborn onesies by the time it cools off enough for her to wear them.

We're looking forward to the upcoming visit from Eddie and Lisa at the end of the month and then a visit from my mom at the beginning of February! To round out our summer visitors, our former graduate advisors Penny and Peter will be in town for a few days at the end of February/beginning of March. By that time, we will be out of the worst of summer heat (hopefully!) and at the start of autumn. I'm interested to see how autumn manifests itself at 27 degrees latitude.

We just got word that Nate's sister and brother-in-law will be visiting for three weeks in July/August. They took advantage of the insane sale that Qantas is having - check the qantas website for cheap flights!

We will be in California for my sister's graduation from law school in May and I hope we'll get to catch up with a lot of family and friends while we're there. More details to follow...

First post of 2009!

(We've got on our antlers and Roxy's got her festive nappy cover)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We brought in the new year with a pizza and beer and a Cirque de Soleil special on tv. Wouldn't you know it - tv is really bad on New Year's Eve. We listened to the fireworks go off around 9:00 and then again at midnight. I guess the early fireworks were for folks with young kids.

It's been warm the past few days. Our high temps (Celsius) are the same as the high temps (Farenheit) in West Chester, Pennsylvania - about 31 degrees. We skyped with families on both coasts and heard all about the Christmas Eve tamales and Christmas Day hams. We had a delicious arroz con pollo for our Christmas feast and our daughter gave us a wonderful Christmas gift - her umbilical stump finally fell off! It was getting really, really gross and it was the best gift we could have gotten.

Here we are skype-ing and Roxy is sans stump.

We've managed to stay away from all of the Boxing Day and End of Year shopping that's been going on. Nate and Doreen trekked to IKEA a few days ago to pick up the final pieces of furniture for our casa (dining table and chairs, bookcases and bed frame) and reported that it was pretty jam-packed.

Nate and Doreen have also been making daily trips to the local swimming pool. It's a 50-meter 8-lane pool that's just up the street. Both come home smelling like chlorine and looking refreshed. I can't wait until The Rox is old enough for us all to go together!

Looking forward to the next couple of days before Nate has to go back to work. He went in today (Jan. 2), but was the only entomologist around. Doreen is here for another week before she flies home. We're on our own for a few weeks before Davis friends Eddie and Lisa stopover on their way to start a new life in Papua New Guinea. We will be in the middle of summer when they arrive, although I hope we'll be through the worst of it by the end of the month.

On a sad note...
For those of you who knew her, my prairie dog Maggie died in early December. She was such a sweet girl who was friendly to everyone and I'm afraid that the news has got me pretty down. She and her brother Oscar have been living with my parents for the past few years and my mom wrote this little tribute to our sweet Maggie girl.

Magellan P. Dog

“Maggie”

Magellan P. Dog passed away peacefully at her home on December 5, 2008. Her twin brother and life-long companion Oscar was at her side.

Maggie, as she was affectionately known to her family and friends, was born in Texas in the early spring of 2002. After a brief stay in New Mexico, she relocated permanently to California in the fall of that year. She was a dedicated home maker and took great pride in the appearance of the home she shared with her brother and, in particular, the placement of her furnishings. On more than one occasion, she stayed up late into the night to redesign the interior of her cozy home and rearrange her belongings.

The garden was a special place for Maggie, who especially enjoyed getting her hands dirty and sampling the fresh greens growing there. She spent many hours on the back lawn, soaking up the sunshine while playing with her family, entertaining visitors, and sometimes running full-tilt just for the sheer joy of it.

Maggie will be remembered for her cheerful smile and luminous brown eyes, her unassuming ways, her industrious and inquisitive nature, and her abiding love of the outdoors. She leaves behind her brother Oscar, her extended family, and the many friends she made along the way. We will miss her.

Private services were held December 6. Maggie was laid to rest in a sheltered place where soft breezes blow and the grass is green.

life with rox

First big outing to the farmer's market (food break)

Trying to get comfy

Skype-ing with family

Home visits from the midwife

I'm typing with one hand... Bub is sleeping on the other one. More baby pix on flickr -- trying to limit the number of close-up baby pix on the blog because it's public and we don't want Roxy all over the Internet.

update is coming

We've been knee-deep in Roxy ever since we got home a week ago, which is why we haven't put up more pictures or been too communicative with things...

She's been wonderful - sleeping a lot (although she's starting to 'wake up' from her newborn-ness), eating a lot and being super cute a lot.

Nate was back at work every day this week and now that we have Internet at home, he can do a lot of work from here. A couple more days of work for him and then the Christmas break. Good timing!

Nate's mom has been here since last Thursday. Roxy made her appearance just hours before Doreen's plane touched down. It's been really, really wonderful having her here -- we wouldn't be eating nearly as well without her; Charlie's surviving on PB&J and carrots while we feast on lamb stew and fresh fruit salad. :)

More pix to come. I promise.