If Edie were a fish...

She would be called a strong-necked mullet. The former describing her surprising ability to hold her head up and the latter referring to her fine hair-do. She was born with a sweet mullet, with an occasional mohawk that is very much in the style of the Australian teenage boy. She may have inherited it from her mother, who was known to sport a shorty-longback in her not-so-distant youth. Of course, I am not in a very good position to make fun of anyone's hair. Everyone who meets Edie here says "she has more hair than you do!" Har de har.

Three weeks in, it seems as though we are settling into a pretty good routine. Edie gets a bath from her Dad every couple of days, and Laura reads Dr. Seuss books to her every day (see pic at right). She's only three weeks old but she's reading at a 5-week level! Basically that involves grunting and jerking and staring at whatever shiny object has caught her attention. She is starting to follow us with her eyes though.

The visitors are slowly getting up the nerve to drop by. Our friend Joyce, who makes delicious curry puffs and spring rolls that we buy every week at the market, came by with her daughter Amy. She very kindly brought us some curry dishes that we've been enjoying - since taking the time to cook is not at the top of our priority list right now.

We occasionally are venturing out of the house with Edie in tow, but most trips have been functional, like going to the police station to get fingerprints for our permanent residency application. Otherwise we stick around the house. The Rugby League finals (playoffs) have been on for the last few weeks which has kept me plenty entertained. Brisbane got beat out by Melbourne last Friday night on a last minute try after one of their players knocked-on (fumbled) 20 metres out from their line. All they had to do was run out the clock. The crowd of 52,000 was stunned, as well as the Brisbane players who were poised for a huge upset of the defending champions. You can see amateur footage of the last couple of minutes here (Brisbane are in maroon, Melbourne in white). Definitely one of the most shocking last minute losses I've seen in real time.

I'm working from home as much as possible, writing up papers from my PhD, which is now officially in the examination stage. That means I'll be home to defend it in December, so the whole family is coming along. We've booked our tickets, and will attempt to make a 14 hour flight across the Pacific without getting killed by our fellow passengers for having a cranky baby. That'll be followed by a Westjet flight from Vancouver to Moncton. Let's just hope Miss Edie is a good flyer. Otherwise, it's going to be a rough couple of days.

All for now. Take care everyone.