Philippe takes a bath

I've put some new pictures up on Flickr. Same as previously, if I haven't given you access and you think you should have it, send me an email energium AT yahoo DOT ca and I will add you to my friends list.

The Shadow of the Wind

I am reading a fantastic book right now called The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (original in Spanish, I've got the translation). I picked it up before heading to hospital for the birth. The story takes place in Barcelona following the Spanish Civil War during the early years of the Francist dictatorship and tells the tale of a young boy, Daniel Sempere, whose father is the respected owner of a used book store. One day, when Daniel is still quite young, his father takes him the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a near mystical, hidden palace where abandoned or forbidden books go to end their days. The tradition has it that when a person visits the Cemetery for the first time, he must pick one book to keep and cherish forever. Fate and destiny seem to drive Daniel to pick up The Shadow of the Wind a book by an unknown author by the name of Julian Carax. Daniel is enthralled by the book and determined to find out more about the mysterious author. This leads to an incredibly complex and wonderful story of love, betrayal, murder, and mystery.

Daniel meets and befriends a mysterious homeless man who goes by the name of Fermin Romero de Torres. Daniel introduces the man to his Father and they end up adopting him and taking him on as hired help in the book store. Fermin is overwhelmed by their generosity and becomes their most loyal supporter and friend. Meanwhile, Fermin has fallen well and truly in love with Bernarda, the maid of another book store owner and begins considering the possibility of becoming a father himself. One day in the book store, Fermin asks Daniel (and this is the point of this post):

‘May I ask you a personal question, Daniel?’

‘Of course.’

‘I beg you to answer in all frankness,’ he said, and he cleared his throat. ‘Do you think I could ever be a father?’

He must have seen my puzzled expression, and he quickly added, ‘I don’t mean biologically – I may look a bit rickety, but by good luck Providence has endowed me with the potency and the fury of a fighting bull. I’m referring to the other sort of father. A good father, if you see what I mean.’

‘A good father?’

‘Yes. Like yours. A man with a head, a heart, and a soul. A man capable of listening, of leading and respecting a child, and not of drowning his own defects in him. Someone whom a child will not only love because he’s his father but will also admire for the person he is. Someone he would want to grow up to resemble.’

‘Why are you asking me this, Fermin? I thought you didn’t believe in marriage and families. The yoke and all that, remember?’

Fermin nodded. ‘Look, all that’s for amateurs. Marriage and family are only what we make of them. Without that they’re just a nest of hypocrisy. Garbage and empty words. But if there is real love, the sort you don’t go around telling everyone about, the sort that is felt and lived…’

‘You’re a changed man, Fermin.’

As I read this passage while resting on my cot in the hospital, I began to reflect that this is exactly what I wanted to be for Philippe. Someone to look up to and learn from. To share ideas and feelings with. Someone who guides and instructs and who is there to listen and maintain links of love and friendship. I want Philippe to be a better person than me, without my faults and vices. I want to be the one who guides him along the paths of life, to point out pitfalls and helps him get back on the path when he stumbles and falls. The path will be of his own choosing but I will walk it with him.

Our walk in the paddock

Yesterday arvo (that means afternoon in Aussie), Edith and I went for a nice little walk in the back paddock to do a bit of bird watching and to try out my new 1.75x telephoto lens for my camera. As we walked along, the Masked Lapwings were going crazy which was a sure indication that there were Lapwing chicks about. Sure enough, Edith's sharp eyes picked up a little movement which couldn't be anything else. As we slowly made our way towards this little bird, the cries of the adults became much more strident and the baby responded to the alarm by sinking down to the ground. I continued onwards but I must have blinked because suddenly I had no idea where the little bird was. I tried to walk away again and wait behind a natural blind thinking the bird would eventually rise but it ended up being much more patient than I. So I tried to find it again and after some time of walking up and down to cover a grid I suddenly saw it!


This little chick was perfectly still and nearly invisible until you were right up on it. In fact, if I had not been scrutinising the ground in an attempt to find it, I never would have seen it and could very well have stepped on it. Terrapine walked right by about 2 metres away and never had a clue it was there. That's effecient camouflage.

I took a few pictures, admired the marvels of nature and then left the poor trembling chick alone.

Photos of Philippe

Well, we are now home. Our first night was good as Philippe slept soundly all night 3 to 4 hours at a time. Yay! Everything is going smoothly: baby is feeding well, Mother is resting and starting to get up and about. I have been going a little bonkers trying desperately to get everything ready. I will be working half days from home for the next two weeks starting Monday so I have today to get things ready for Edith to be "on her own".

Edith and I have decided that we don't want to put any pictures of Philippe on the blog just yet. We feel funny about possible public consumption of the pictures and want to attempt to control who sees what. So, I've created a Flickr account which I will be using for now to post pictures. I've already invited some people but if you haven't received an invitation yet, don't worry it's just that I was lazy and only sent it out to those whose emails I knew by heart or had ready access (ie two clicks or less). If you want to access the pictures, please send me an email at
energium AT yahoo DOT ca (replace " AT " by "@" and " DOT " by ".")
and I will give send you an invitation to the email address of your choosing.

That's it for now, Edith and are going for a little walk just now with Philippe to get some fresh air and enjoy the lovely weather.

I will post more interesting stuff soon. I will try and get Edith to post a bit about her experiences at the hospital if she feels up to it.

Bienvenue au monde Philippe!

Notre adorable bébé Philippe est venu au monde lundi le 11 septembre 2006 très précisément à 12h33. Il pesait 3710 grammes (8 livres et 3 onces pour les anciens) et mesurait 50 cm. J'ai ressenti le plus grand bonheur de ma vie en mettant moi même mon fils au monde. Edith qui a travaillé comme une championne va bien mais elle est très fatiguée comme vous pouvez vous l'imaginer. Nous pensons renter à la maison samedi et nous vous écrirons un post plus détaillé avec photos.

Our adorable first baby Philippe was born on Monday, September 11^th 2006. He weighed in at a very respectable 3710 grams (8 lbs, 3 oz for you Philistines) and measured 50 cm. Short and stocky like me. Welcoming my son into the world was the most powerful experience of my life. Edith is very well but understandably tired after her long effort. We expect to be home on Saturday and we will write a more detailed post with pictures at that time.

First Day at Home

I left work last night, thinking it will be at least 6 months before I go back. It felt stange! I'm not on holiday; I'm just at home, preparing for the arrival of our baby and the new adventure we're about to begin. Two weeks ago I was so tired, I wished I could quit work and spend the days sleeping. But in the last few days I realised the lifeI've been knowing for the past 8 years (since I graduated from Polytechnique) was almost over: I almost said "nooooo!" I'm not ready! What a weird idea to have a baby, what was I thinking!!! I'm really confused: one minute I'm very excited by everything that's going on and the next, absolutely scared about the birth and brining a new baby home. At the moment, I'm just really happy and at peace. I can't wait to see our little one's face and hear the first scream.

Funny how when something is changing, you realise you'll miss it (work). Well, that's my mood for now, it may be different in a few weeks / months. Marc seems to be preparing for the eventuality where I never want to go back. For the time being, I's impossible to imagine!

As the day progresses, it seems more and more normal to be here (at home) and enjoy the present moment. Not too sure what I'll do just now, maybe have a look at the veggie patch. I'll say goodbye with this picture, l'Atoll de Rangiroa - Polynesie Francaise, taken a few minutes before landing:

Sept 1st, Australian Spring is here

Australians have a funny way with seasons: unlike other places around the world, seasons here begin on the first of the month, not as per the Earth's position around the Sun (equinox and solstice). So today, 1st of September, is the first day of spring while it's still summer for another 3 weeks or so in the northern hemisphere. But regardless of dates, nice weather has been with us since we moved here. There's hardly any rain - it rained 3 times in the last 2 months (how can it fill the water tank?) - even though winter is supposed to be the wet, cold, miserable season. None of that in South Arm! We've been enjoying Sunday lunches on the terasse (the deck as they call it) all through winter!

The last couple of weeks have just been amazing for the eyes, with new colors appearing everywhere. These few photos show you what we see when we leave for work in the morning (snif!). Fortunately, the drive is not too ugly, with water and beaches and sand dunes and mountains, so it's also a nice part of the day. Follow the link for more photos (Yahoo - Spring in South Arm) if you feel like having a look at what I saw on my last Wednesday lunch walk.

I've been working from home on Wednesdays for the last few weeks. It has made the long 5-day week feel much easier for my growing belly. This week is my last week at work (hip, hip, hurray!) so I hope to spend even more time enjoying home, the garden and the beach until the baby arrives. Life is hard...