Bambi's First Trip to Sydney - Part III

Everyone loves a wedding. It is that one day in the year, where you gather with all your friends and witness two people exchange vows and profess their love to one another. It becomes even more special when the bride or groom are your closest friends in the world. Little-Miss-Drink-A-Lot and I have shared so many ups and downs together in life, we have always been there for each other. And now that it is her turn to get married, I couldn't be more happy for her!

I woke up that Saturday morning, gave Little Bambi her first feed of the day at 7am, then at around 9am, I headed out to Little-Miss-Drink-A-Lot's hotel which was just a few steps away from ours. We got out hair and make up done, with a videographer and a photographer by our side. The atmosphere reminded me very much of my wedding day... ahh time flies.

Then at 11am, it was Mummy's Milk Bar Duties for me. Grumpy came over to the hotel with Little Bambi and I gave her the 2nd feed of the day. While feeding Little Bambi, I had rollers in my hair, make up and fake lashes.. I told Grumpy, "I feel like Miranda Kerr!!"

Picture from Miranda Kerr's Twitter

Ta-dahhhh! The gorgeous bride with her matron of honour

By 1pm we were all ready, and I took the opportunity to quickly express my boobs in the bathroom. Little Bambi usually feeds at 3pm, but because we would all be in the church at that time, I expressed at 1pm instead.

The wedding day went exactly as planned. The church ceremony was beautiful. I think I saw the groom getting teary eyed! After the ceremony, the bridal party headed out to Vaucluse for sunset photos. Grumpy went back to the hotel to check on Little Bambi. We decided not to bring her to the church only because taxis with baby capsules were so rare!

Grumpy and I with the bride and groom

After we were done with photos, we headed to the reception at around 6.30pm. Immediately, I rushed to the toilets, again, to express my boobs. So you see, I spent the entire wedding day with a breast pump in my bag, thinking only about emptying my boobs and how to avoid getting mastitis again! Plus,  wearing a bridesmaid dress instead of a nursing top made access to the boobs quite challenging. Haha but I soldiered on!

If there was one thing I was nervous about on the wedding day (apart from my boobies), it would have to be my Matron of Honour speech! Eeks! At the end, I kept it simple, short and I wrote/spoke exactly of how I felt about our friendship after all these years.

After the reception, Grumpy and I decided to head out with the rest of the wedding entourage to the after party. I was a little bit tired but we thought, hey, we're in Sydney, Little Bambi is sleeping at the hotel, my mother-in-law is looking after her.. lets just have some fun! So we went to Bar100 until about 2.30am. I was in bed by 3.15am.. and the next morning, Little Bambi woke up at 6am (instead of her usual 7am). But I missed her so much! I barely spent time with her the day before, so the next morning I couldn't stop giving her cuddles!

That Sunday morning, we packed and checked out from the hotel at about 12noon. We headed straight to the airport for our flight back to Melbourne. We finally got back home at nearly 7pm that day. Grumpy, Little Bambi and I were exhausted. 

At the Sydney airport

It was indeed such an eventful trip to Sydney! Grumpy and I decided it will be a while more before we travel again (with a baby in tow)! Haha

Hurricane

My brother Dopey will be heading to NYC in about 2 weeks, for work. I have never been there myself but I am so excited for him.

He sent me a text message this morning.

Dopey: The hurricane is hitting New York

Me: Perfect time to go!

Dopey: I will die

Dopey: And Bambi will lose her only uncle

Bath Time

Bath Time is Little Bambi's favourite part of the day! She just loves taking a bath! When Grumpy took this photo yesterday, I told him we have to save this photo for her 18th birthday! 

We were using Johnson's Baby Top to Toe wash for her baths initially. But it made her skin extremely dry.. and when a paediatrician pointed out that Little Bambi had eczema, I changed her body wash immediately. Now I am using ecostore Sleepytime Bath and it smells so lovely on her. 

4 Months

Little Bambi turned 4 months old yesterday. We went for her 4 month check up today and she is now a whopping 8 kgs in weight and 65 cms in length. She is still tracking above average on the charts. Yup, the 'Little Porker' title stays...

She has not been able to roll as yet... However, if there is one thing she has learnt to do lately, it would be squealing at the top of her lungs. At first we thought it was funny. We would video her squeals and send it to our families and laugh... But then, her squeals became LOUDER and she did it MORE often, nearly making me run for cover! 

She is also losing a lot of the hair on her head. Hehe looks like she has a receding hairline. My mum keeps persuading me to shave her head bald, but others tell me that her real hair will grow soon.

We also started with daylight savings last week. On the Friday before daylight savings, I moved her routine forward by 20 minutes. On Saturday, I moved it forward by another 20 minutes, therefore 40 minutes ahead. And on Sunday, VOILA, one hour ahead and we have fully adjusted to the new time! I told Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch about this, and her response was "Wow I admire your dedication to sticking to the schedule!" Haha 

Apart from all of that, at 4 months, Little Bambi is a real delight to care for. I treasure every minute of my time spent with her. My favourite time with her is when I am breastfeeding. What they say about a mother breastfeeding and bonding with her baby is absolutely true. 

Happy 4 months my darling Bambi! I love you the most!

Bambi's First Trip to Sydney - Part II

After we landed in Sydney that Thursday afternoon, we checked in at Medina Grand Sydney. We booked a 2 bedroom apartment (one room for Grumpy's parents and one room for us). We requested for a cot in advance, and what we got was an el cheapo portacot which came with a charge of an extra $5 per night. Being the nervous mum that I am, I was worried Little Bambi might not adjust well in the portacot, but thank god, she was fine and slept through all three nights in Sydney.

I also hired a pram for Little Bambi from Hire for Baby, and they do drop off and pick up (of the pram) at the hotel, which was great! This is my 2nd time using Hire for Baby, and I think they are awesome! Professional and very friendly people to deal with. (The baby capsule in my car currently is also from Hire for Baby).

That same evening, we went out to Lowenbrau at The Rocks for dinner. It was funny because we bumped into my BFF, who was also there for dinner with her family. Lowenbrau was a nice restaurant for Grumpy's parents, but it was extremely noisy place for my Little Bambi. 

The next day, Friday, was our only day to show Grumpy's parents what a beautiful city Sydney was. We found it difficult to travel because we had to pre-book taxis that came with baby capsules by a few hours ahead. We decided to head to the fish market by tram that day. 

When we were done at the fish market, we headed back to our apartment so that I could give Bambi her 3pm feed. After her feed, we were just hanging out in the room, playing and singing to her, and suddenly, she started to laugh! Grumpy and I were so surprised. It was her first laugh... and she's wide awake!  We were used to seeing her giggle in her sleep. This was different. My camera was right next to me, and I was able to capture her first giggles on video! 

Little Bambi at 14 weeks old

Stella's First Giggles from Jules Ng on Vimeo.

Mischka Aoki Dress

When I was pregnant, I was secretly hoping to have a baby girl, so that I could dress her up in cute little outfits like this Mischka Aoki dress! Little Bambi would look so adorable in this!

16 Weeks

Little Bambi turned 16 weeks old yesterday. We went for her 3rd dose of immunisation last week, which was again a terrible ordeal for both of us. She screamed when the doctor placed a needle in both her thighs, and as for me, my heart stood still for that moment. The good thing about babies is that they forget about it very quickly, because in minutes, she stopped crying and seemed fine. She did not develop a fever, which was good. But she was very unsettled that evening, refusing to take any milk. In the end, we gave her some Panadol (for babies) and by the next morning, she was back to her normal happy-baby-self. The doctor also popped her on the scales, and she now weighs 7.6kgs, which is a very big baby! Oh my.. the doctor assured me she was fine and told me I should be very pleased because Little Bambi feeds so well.

Little Bambi trying to turn her body to the left

She is near the 4 month mark, and this is when they learn to roll over on their sides. Soon, I will not be able to swaddle her any longer. She will start using her sleeping bags with her arms sticking out. I know that rolling on their sides is part of their development yada yada yada, but I get so emotional just thinking about how quick my baby is growing up. I still watch videos of her when she was just a newborn, and it melts my heart, tremendously.. just listening to her 'little' cries when she was only a few days old.

At the moment, she is very responsive. When I smile at her, she smiles back at me, and that just makes my day!! She makes me the happiest person in the world!!

This week, I started reading to her. I read picture books to her, and she pays attention! She looks at the pages on the book, the different colours.. curious and very attentive. I definitely look forward to more reading time with her.