Game Over

I miss my family. I miss my friends from high school and my university years (from Quebec and Europe) and now my friends from Hobart. People I care about I normally communicate with over the phone, the email or Facebook, so it's a bit useless to keep this diary. All it's used for is to feed a psycho's fake public profile in Facebook anyway. It's a public website, so I can't complain, right?

The blog sucks. I'm sick of it.
This is my last post. Good bye!

Going Out

Tonight is SKM's (Marc's company) end of financial year party. Partners are invited but not kids, so Philippe will be experiencing a new baby sitter for the night! Well, for about 45 minutes, then he'll be asleep.

I should be excited. The function is held in a trendy bar in the city, with loud music and lots of drunk people. I feel awkward going out with my near-29-week belly! Somehow, watching a good movie sitting comfortably (impossible these days) on my couch seems like a more natural option at this stage.

On the other hand, we hardly ever take the time to do things just the 2 of us, or I should say, without young Prince Philippe. So a bit of grown up talk won't hurt! Actually, now that I think of it, no one there but us has got young children. Wow, that should really change me.

Have great summer weekend in the Northern Hemisphere. And if you're in Tassie, well, cover up!

Fatty Aussies

This is official, Australia is now the fattest nation in the world with 26% of the adult population being obese. It was all over the news last week and this is what I saw on TV. Who would have thought the Americans could be beaten on the disease they invented???

This is almost unbelievable when you think about it. 9 million Australians are over-weight, of which 4 million are obese. This is making me sick, even though I know it's not a simple issue... I cannot imagine how all these people feel. I now carry an extra 11 kilos being pregnant and I feel huge and heavy, most night (not to say all) I'm exhausted at bedtime. I puff when I climb the stairs and I struggle to carry Philippe over 50 meters (he's nearly 13 kilos now). How could I weight twice as much as that and live freely?

How about a swim this afternoon and a salad with those pork chops? (Marc you know what we're having for dinner!)

Phili-Franglish

It is fascinating to watch the process by which Philippe is learning French and English at the same time. Linguistics literature suggests to use a consistent framework to work within so the child understands that a different set of symbols (words making up a language) is used in different circumstances. For us, it is French at home, English elsewhere (mainly at childcare, playgroup and also some TV) and it really works. Philippe responds equally to people talking to him in English at childcare or to me and Marc in French. In fact, it works so well that when we visited friends from Quebec a couple of weeks ago, Philippe was puzzled to hear other people speaking that funny lingo we use at home! The only thing he doesn't seem to get is No, or Non... but who would think this is a language issue? Definitely not a parent! My only wish at the moment is that we could eventually move in a strange country, that way Philippe could pick up a third language before he reaches 7, the ultimate age before which you can learn any language without a foreign accent (or so they say).

In the meantime, here are a few things we now hear non-stop through the day (Did I ever mentioned Marc's nickname as a child was motor-mouth? Well, I'm sure it's a dominant gene).

In the animal kingdom:

• Doggy: when I say chien or dog
• Minou: (Cat - Kitty) At first pronounced the English way "menew" but now fully Francais!
• Badda: (from bird?) pointing at trees and the noisy birds in them (can't say oiseau yet).
• Ducky: Bigger birds and proper canards
  
• Totu: Do you get that one?
• Rooooaaaarr!: Any wild animal (lion, zebra) and the farm animal he doesn't know (lambs!)
• Toala: (Koala) As a mantra, is the bath, as a war cry, pointing at the tea towel, ad nauseum
  
• Moo: The English cow, obviously, as everyone knows that the French one goes Meuh
• Kh-Kh: (Horse) or the sound you make with your tongue when you call one
• Toutou: Any teddy bear or other stuffed animal not comprised in one of the above
  

First sentences (or syllables put together):

• Ah oui! as a parrot when I talk to Marc or think out loud (very dangerous now with that talking toddler around!)
  
• Tapete (T'as pete), meaning "you farted" which he now use in the right context when he or Marc farts (because I don't).
• Recent combinations: Papa paati (Dad gone), Bu paati (bus gone), Minou dodo (Cat sleeping), Tapete Papa!
  

No relation to anything known:

• Baba: truck or bus or anything big on the road
• Nono: Milk or water, you have to figure out for yourself, but you usually find out with the reaction if you guessed the right way
• Fa-Fa-Fa: I couldn't see any connection at first, then I realised what it meant and I was ashamed of myself. Let me know if you find it...
• Pitou: A motorcycle... no idea where he got that one from...
  

Given that list, my guess is he probably knows around 30-40 words right now. Not bad for a bilingual baby, hey?

Numero Due!

I'm back. After over 2 months without internet access from home, it's finally solved. Well, we still can't answer phone calls from the wireless handset but who cares when you have a mobile phone and an ADSL2+ connection to the fantastic world wide web?!?

I haven't written about our biggest news of the year. You might know about it if you're family, live in Tassie or are a friend on Facebook. Otherwise... we're expecting another baby! Here it is, as it was a few weeks ago. The photo is taken with a 3D ultrason! Cool, isn't it? I finally managed to get into the obstetrics clinic I wanted to be in for the delivery of the baby.

In Australia with the private health system, you get to choose where and what kind of birth you want to have. Turns out the doctor my Hobart obstetrician recommended in Perth is a very popular and busy doctor. I guess I called his clinic so many times that the office got tired of me and ask the doctor if he wanted to look after me so I would stop harassing them! As he knew my Hobart doctor, he said yes! I was really happy with that. You can't really pick the person who's going to deliver your baby in the Yellow Pages, can you?















Now you want to know the sex, right? Well you'll have to wait a few posts and make a guess...

Pizza

No pizza in the city, no pizza in Subiaco, the trendy, cool suburb. What is going on? Definitely a business opportunity for La Piazzetta or something like that.

In the end, we found it in Northbridge, the former Italian suburb, now turning Asian. There are still a few streets where loud Italians are talking on their mobile on the sidewalk, moving their arms up in the air as they chat. The pizza was great, ready in minutes and the owner's daughter was delignted to instruct us on how to get to the real Italian shops, delis and butchers. Grocery shopping now seems a whole new exciting experience! Aren't Italians great? Anywhere they are?

We're moving this weekend (I said that before, right?), Philippe is starting child care on Tursday when our belingings are being delivered, and I'm now looking for work in Perth!

Ciao, ciao amici!

WA

Things have moved quickly in the last few weeks. Here's a quick update, no photos, sorry I'm writing from an internet cafe until we are established in the new house...

• It's still summer here, with the daily temperature about anywhere between 30 and 40. A bit hot, really!
• We found a nice family house in Kensington, we'll be moving next week, right on time for the long Easter weekend. Our furniture has arrived, the car won't be far away...
• Things are pretty expansive in general but there seems to be a few exceptions. I bought blueberries (from Tasmania) for 2/3 of what I usually paid in Hobart, and there were good - it's a mystery.
• It shouldn't be hard to find work, Marc has already mentioned me to the System people at SKM and they want to see my resume (I better get busy).
• After a quest of 10 days, I managed to find sourdough bread; no more of that industrial crap you buy at the corner store.
• Mission for today: find a nice pizza place who delivers... quite challenging in Perth, really...

Have a good Easter break.
Edith