Work or Breaking Bad

It has been more than 2 months since my last post. Most of my time has been spent on work or Breaking Bad. To sum it all up:

• Did my first cupcake decorating class. Enjoyed it. However, have not done anything related to baking in the kitchen since. Too lazy. I did borrow a Planet Cakes book from the library for further motivation. 
• Catching a cold for the 4th and 5th time this year. The same with Grumpy. Either he gets it first and then passes it on to me, or vice versa.
• Did my first Dress Rehearsal weekend for work. It was such a stressful and exhausting week. And ended up reporting to a previous Queen Bitch manager (whom I used to work for back in 2007 in a different company) for a couple of weeks. Lesson learnt : Melbourne is such a small market. You never know who you end up working with. 
• We finally did our first trip together on our own with Little Bambi to Sydney. It was a huge success! We had lots of fun, and we caught up with my darling BFF Little-Miss-Drink-A-Lot (who hasn't been drinking, really because of breastfeeding) and her gorgeous little bubba. 
• We found out Little Bambi is allergic to something… what exactly, we still do not know. When she had the reaction, we were so scared for her. Now we are waiting for our appointment with the allergist. 
• Applied for an internal role with the firm. Failed to secure it. Ah well, disappointing.
• However, Little Bambi getting accepted for full time care next year at our preferred childcare centre - Jumping JOY! What a huge relief.
• Little Bambi's vocabulary has improved and she can count one to six, and she says A, B, C, B! 
• We finally installed evaporative cooling at home, after the last dreadful summer I endured while on maternity leave. And then 5 weeks later, our hot water system broke down, and we had to replace that too. So definitely feeling very poor right now.
• Survived 6 whole days without running hot water at home. Utter madness, yes it is!

Overall, it has been an interesting 2 months. Now its all about prepping for Xmas and the New Year!

15 Months

Poor Little Bambi with her swollen eyes

Happy 15 months my Little Bambi! Unfortunately she picked up conjunctivitis from child care on Thursday, and has been suffering from red and swollen eyes since. She has been a bit grizzly and as such, we have kept her home, making sure she gets lots of rest.

At 15 months exactly yesterday, she took her first steps on her own! My baby is walking! My baby is walking! *sobs* How fast has she grown?!? We have been busy taking videos of her taking her baby steps, (with her red eyes - my poor bubba). She is doing really well walking without any assistance, and loving every minute of her new profound independence. However, at certain times of the day, she resorts back to crawling as it is just a quicker way of transportation. 

I decided at 15 months, I would stop breastfeeding completely. Little Bambi handled being weaned off extremely well, and I still marvel at the easy going baby that she is when it comes to feeding and sleeping. In fact, if there was anyone that did not cope too well with the transition, it was me! I must admit I felt quite sad, which is only natural (especially with the hormones).

Also at 15 months, despite all the wonderful traits that she has been showing, she started learning the art of throwing tantrums! It does sound awful, and I assure you that it is! She throws herself to the floor, kicking and screaming until she gets her way. Oh my, how and what do I do with this?! Plenty of reading and advice from other mums, I guess.

So there we go, three big development milestones at 15 months - walking, weaning and tantrums. My gorgeous little girl - I am still so crazy in LOVE with you.

Sore Back

Oh my, I am suffering from a sore back. As much as I hate to say it, I know it comes from carrying Little Bambi. My chubby bubba is approximately 12 kgs, and loves to be carried only by me! She insists, she only wants 'mummy'!

I think I am joining my other colleagues at work who spend their days complaining about their bad backs and exchanging contacts for good chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists. What is happening to me?!

By the way, I have booked myself in for a massage at Endota Spa tomorrow.

Yesterday I picked her up from childcare, and she had a red eye. I noticed a sign on the door saying Little Bambi's room has a confirmed case of conjunctivitis, and true enough, she's got it too! We brought her to the doctors last night, dropped by the chemist for some eye drops, and today, she stayed at home with me (while I worked from home). I scheduled her naps during my meetings which I had to dial in to, and she slept on cue (bless her!).

It has been an exhausting week. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

Good night!

Hello 31!

The weekend before my birthday, I spent my entire Saturday volunteering for Daffodil Day.

The next Sunday, we did a spontaneous trip to Daylesford and we had a yummy lunch at The Farmers Arms Hotel. 

More food mama!

The Lavandula Farm in Daylesford

The long drive and lunch obviously made Little Bambi quite tired..

Then the week came and it was busy at work (as usual). 

Coincidently, all of us mummies from Mothers Group agreed (a few weeks before) to go out for dinner and drinks on Thursday night, and they surprised me with a cake! 

Then on Friday, we did a scavenger hunt for work. I was made the team captain of my team, and I cringed when I found out my bosses boss was in my team! But in the end, it probably worked to our benefit because we won! Either that, or it was because I picked Richmond for our team (as I am a Tigers supporter).

This is when we had to eat a pie, all at the same time.

And finally on Saturday, Grumpy prepared a feast at home for our friends and Dopey.

Home made yong tau foo and soy sauce braised pork belly

Group shot with Little Bambi and even the dog!

With Little Bambi a bit older now, I have been able to celebrate my birthday this time round with more activities, and it has been a lot of fun! Of course Grumpy played a big part in it all, supporting me with the charity work, looking after Little Bambi while I was out at night or staying back for work. And of course, with him cooking all my favourite food and sharing a meal with my closest friends together with Little Bambi, it was the perfect way to celebrate my 31st birthday! Here's to the first year of my thirties!

Sleep Better

Things have been a lot better since the start of the month.

For starters, at the end of July, my old boss at work told me about a potential BA role in her stream. I jumped immediately and was all like "Pick me! Pick me!". The next day which was a Thursday, I met the hiring project manager and my old boss for coffee at a restaurant downstairs in our building, and in less than 15 minutes, the project manager goes "Yes, I want you on board. Lets get the ball rolling". By that Friday, my current boss released me from my previous role effective immediately, and I was so happy that I did not have to deal with any of the idiot consultants who have been causing me so much grief! This secondment role is a different step from my previous project management role, but considering my mummy status now, my priorities have changed. I am still in the same effing 'never ending' project, but just working in a different stream.

Requesting for this change of roles at work, I highlighted to my bosses about my need for work life balance at the moment. Working full time, I need to be able to leave the office on time, which I have NOT been able to do at all previously. My hours have changed slightly, I start at 8am instead of 8.30am. And so I leave work at 4.30pm instead of 5pm. Also, I squeezed in a request to be able to work from home on Fridays. I still send Little Bambi to childcare on Fridays, but with working from home, I am able to drop her off later, and pick her up earlier.

So there you go, the pressure has been off for the moment. Its strange, how I never liked my old boss when I started at the firm, and now we are close and she has been instrumental with this move. On Thursday this week, we went to the Cancer Council Victoria for Volunteer Day (with work) together.

At home, it has been a bit over two weeks now that my mum has left. So Grumpy and I are on our own caring for Little Bambi. It has been challenging, a bit tiring at times, but overall, we are closer than before. Its all about teamwork right? In the mornings, after I wake Little Bambi up, I breastfeed her, and straight away hand her over to Grumpy, while I run for the train. He then puts her on the potty, changes her nappy, dresses her, and drops her off to childcare. He is also in charge of cooking - he whips up dinner for Little Bambi and us too.

Working full time, I know how my time with Little Bambi is limited. I only get to spend full days with her on weekends. And as such, I have decided to hire a cleaner, that comes to our place once a fortnight. This cleaners costs us an arm and a leg, but that gives me the luxury of spending more time with Little Bambi, instead of scrubbing toilets.

I have also started going back to the gym now. Previously, working long hours, being stressed, lack of sleep blah blah blah, made going to the gym nearly impossible. But now, I go for classes with two of the mums from our Mothers Group, which is great. It is important for me to be fit and healthy, and at the same time, keep in contact with the mums. They update me with the latest goss, new trends and baby developments. We have a girls night out planned in two weeks, and I am looking forward to it.

I sleep better these days, and also, after taking a dose of antibiotics, I have recovered from my cold and throat/chest infection.

My birthday is at the end of this month. I am getting old. What a bitch!

15 Year Anniversary

While sitting at my desk at work this morning, looking at today's date, I realised it was our 15 year anniversary. Since we got married, we stopped celebrating the 8th of August because the 23rd of January became the new official anniversary. Regardless, I still remember the 8th of August very fondly, and 15 years is a big enough milestone for us!

I have been looking at my iPhone and my laptop, searching for a recent photo of just the two of us. Unfortunately there is NONE! Oh dear.. its either the three of us together (like the one here), or just myself and Little Bambi, or Grumpy with Little Bambi. But that is okay, before the arrival of Little Bambi, we had like 14 years of 'just the two of us' photos. 

Having my mum live in our home for the past couple of months, we have been lucky to be able to sneak out for date nights (while my mum stayed home to look after Little Bambi). We would go to the movies at least once a week at night, and also, every Thursday night, we would head to 2 Brothers for some beer and a pizza, just for some alone time. But this arrangement was not permanent, of course. It has been over a week now that my mum has left Melbourne to return to Malaysia, and so its back to just Grumpy and myself with Little Bambi. So far we have been enjoying our family time together.

Okay I am getting sleepy now. Bed time for me! Happy anniversary to my dearest Grumpy, the father of my Little Bambi. Now that she is in our lives, looking back, I would not have it any other way. 

13 Months

I was not sure if I should continue taking Little Bambi's monthly portraits after she turned one, but I decided to continue for my own pleasure, seeing how quickly she's grown into the little girl that she is.

At 13 months, Little Bambi is so much fun. On Thursday night, as usual, I put her to bed at 7pm, then I left her room to have dinner with Grumpy. 30 minutes later, I went to check on her, if she was asleep, but she was not. She was just lying in her cot, talking and playing with her stuffed toys. We spent the next hour and a half, just giggling and being silly together.

At 13 months, she is still not interested in walking. She still loves to be carried and cuddled, she is very affectionate (in other words, quite clingy). But that is okay, considering she spends 4 full days in child care each week. That gives her every right to be clingy with her mum and dad!

Her hair is growing now, which is great because I love doing stuff to her hair. Haha this is one of the reasons I wanted a daughter in the first place! In this photo, she actually has a little pony tail at the back of her head.

At 13 months, she has learnt to become a picky eater. I read that it is normal among toddlers. She still accepts all types of food. However, the difference now is that half way through a meal, she will decide that she has had enough. That it is, mama! No more, I don't want any more food, get it out of my sight! Jeeezzzzz...

Recently, she has been obsessed with baths. She has always enjoyed bath time, it is a fact, but now, she is clever enough to REFUSE to leave her bath. After Grumpy has soaped her and all, he will try to lift her out the bath, instead she holds on to both sides of the bath with her little pruned fingers - clinging on for dear life. She is absolutely hilarious. I can't imagine my life without her!

Sick and Miserable

Of course after weeks of stress at work, lack of sleep, anxiety, pressure and a whole lot more, my body decides to break down and with that, I picked up a bad cold, cough and a sore throat. I put on a smiley face in front of everyone, but who am I kidding? I am sick and miserable on in the inside. Little Bambi has the exact same symptoms as I do, and we are both just soldier-ing on without any medication.

Here are some photos to cheer myself up. Everyday before I go to work, I feed Little Bambi and then we watch a few YouTube videos on the iPad and then we snap a few photos (while she is still in her sleeping bag).

Come on Jules! Find the strength to carry on!

P.S. How exciting is it? The Royal Baby is on its way!

12 Months

I am three and a half weeks late with this post (no, not my period - if that was what you were guessing haha), but that just goes to show how busy, lazy, tired and lazy (again) I am!

So my Little Bambi finally turned 1! What a huge milestone it was! Look how grown up she looks here in this picture!

At 12 months, she can stand on her own now, but she has not learnt to walk yet.

At 12 months, she has a total of 6 teeth. We have started giving her food with a bit more taste, i.e. chinese porridge with pork or fish (marinated in soy sauce) which she absolutely loves! The past 6 months has been very westernised meals (you know the Annabel Karmels, chicken casserole, beef bolognese, pasta, toast - all with no salt), but now that she has passed the 12 months mark, she is back to being a chinese baby! By the way, I am still breastfeeding. I know I know, many people say once your kid turns 1, breast feeding after this point is strange, but I am determined to get past winter with better immunity for her system.

At 12 months, Little Bambi can pronounce or repeat certain words after us. She has a much better understanding of the environment that she is in, what is happening, etc. She is very clever and can express herself so well.

She has grown so much, and because of her mum's busy work schedule, we have not been able to make it to our 12 month appointment with the maternal & child health nurse yet. Next week, I promise! Once we meet the nurse, we can weigh Little Bambi and see how she is progressing in the growth department. I keep telling myself I need to stick a little growth chart on the wall of Little Bambi's room and tick it every week (to see how far she has grown). When I was little, each weekend, my uncle used to measure our height (my cousins and I) against the wall, and I remember clearly how I used to be the tallest, next to the two boys! Btw, I am still waiting for her hair to grow longer.

We celebrated her first birthday party, which was a huge success! Minus the food poisoning I encountered after. Long story. I will write another post about her birthday party.

Overall, the past 12 months has been an amazing year for me. Being a first time mum, having Little Bambi in my life, how my priorities have changed, yet I would not have it any other way. She is the love of my life!

Happy 12 months my Little Bambi!

Tough Week

Last week was an extremely tough week for me at work. The politics, the new idiots they hire, the pressure and the way we seem to do things at the very last minute.. it is driving me insane. I have not been sleeping well all week, constantly waking up every few hours and the only thoughts in my head are about work, work and more work! This is NOT GOOD for my soul! Little Bambi's first birthday is just round the corner, and I would rather be doing fun stuff like organising her cake and getting ready for the day!

Apart from an awful week at work, Little Bambi had a throat infection and also contracted a viral infection on the skin at the side of her face, and near her ear area. There was one night where she was crying uncontrollably, and it just made me feel so helpless as a mother! The doctor did not prescribe anything for the throat infection, but we did go to the pathologist to test for the viral infection at the side of her face. 

Our family portrait is finally ready, Grumpy and I picked it up on Thursday night. Yesterday I googled a framing store, and immediately, Little Bambi and I drove there to get our portrait framed. The family portrait is a custom size, hence I had to get it custom framed. I am extremely happy with the portrait! I will post a picture here once the framing is done. 

It is the long weekend, and while we are all very busy with family and Little Bambi's birthday coming up, I have been enjoying my time with Little Bambi and Grumpy. Last night Grumpy and I went out for a movie, I was hoping to watch The Great Gatsby, but there were no seats left, so we settled for Hangover 3 which was so dumb! 

Today we went for a drive to the Yarra Valley to have lunch and some beer at the White Rabbit Brewery in Healesville. It was good fun!

My baby is turning 1 soon!

After we got home, I started sneezing a lot, and I think I am down with a cold. I might have gotten it from Little Bambi (she probably picked it up from another kid at her child care!) There is nothing worse than falling sick during the week of my baby's first birthday! AHHH PUTAINNNN!!

Mess

I am at a point of time where things just do not seem to be working out.
I find myself constantly in disagreements with Grumpy and my mum. Which make things extremely difficult. And to make things worse, work is full of shitburgers that I just do not enjoy it at all.
The only thing that keeps me going is my baby, Little Bambi. And does it make sense that I am working full time instead of looking after her? Probably not.

Maybe it is just me. And to help myself get out of this mess, I just ordered this book called Personality Plus online. God I hope it arrives soon! Not sure how long I can cope with all this shit!

11 Months

My Little Bambi is now 11 months old. This is the moment when I realise that she is turning one very soon, and growing up too fast. And yes, like any other mum, I am scrambling with her first birthday preparations.

So what has happened since her laser procedure? Well, unfortunately I cannot say that the results came out positive. The birthmark is still very visible and somedays, it does not look any better than what it was before. It pains my heart, I swear... the fact that I put her through that procedure (which did not improve the situation), but life is all about taking chances right? 

Moving on from that, at 11 months, she has 3 new teeth that is growing on her upper jaw. The teething effects were not as bad as the first two. Phew!

She is a little chatterbox, and I just love her constant baby talk.. its the cutest little thing.. hearing her mumble and grumble.

She has not been able to walk yet, but I am in no hurry for her to walk. Only because once she starts walking, she will become a real little person and no more the little baby that I used to cradle in my arms!

Little Bambi started childcare this week, officially for two days. Overall, she went really well and I am so proud of her. The carers constantly tell me how independent and well behaved Little Bambi is, which is absolutely wonderful! I really do hope she gets a good experience out of her time there.

Also, at 11 months, while I am still breastfeeding, I said I would stop by her first birthday. And if that is the case, I should really start weaning her off gradually now... which I have not done yet. One of the things I am worried about the most is my weight! The fact that I have been able to lose all the baby weight, and still eat as much as I want.. is due to breastfeeding. Should I stop? Should I?

Last week we went to a studio to get our family portraits taken.

My usually bubbly and cheerful Little Bambi decided on the day that she would NOT smile.. AT ALL..  during the entire photo shoot. Instead she puts on her most serious face. Like seriously..?

10 Months

Little Bambi is 10 months old today!

At 10 months, my little darling had to endure her first procedure at the hospital. Tears roll down my cheeks as I type this. On Friday, just two days before she reached 10 months old, she had her first laser treatment for a birthmark on her left eye. The treatment required her to be under general anaesthetic, which is such an awful thing for a little person like herself to endure.

I have never spoken openly about this birthmark that she has from birth, only because it makes me sad. However, I am truly blessed because birthmark aside, she is perfectly healthy, and has such an amazing personality.

Little Bambi helping herself to my books from the mini library.

Her passion for books

On a lighter note, at 10 months, she has been saying "mama" and "mummy" really well now, which melts my heart in an instant. She is so expressive, in ways such as clapping her hands, pointing her finger, and waving her arms! My personal favourite is when she listens to music, she rocks her body as if she is dancing. Its good to know my baby has musical bones (a trait she would have taken from me, considering her father is tone deaf). 

The most important trait at 10 months that I will always remember, is the brave baby that she is. She handled the procedure at the hospital so well... and in fact, a million times better than I did. It still marvels me that a little person like her can be so strong and brave. She truly is my one true source of inspiration. 

Easter Weekend

Two days before Good Friday, I was already feeling a bit under the weather. I was coming down with a cold.. and of course, what perfect timing considering it was the long weekend that was coming up!

On Thursday, my boss asked for my help with a workshop for the senior executives in my company. This workshop had a 7.30am start time! AHHH I told her I could not make it to work by 7.30am, only because I have to feed baby... Anyways, I express fed Little Bambi and was able to make it to the office at 8am. We were prepping for this workshop for a few weeks, and it was interesting. I think the only part I really liked was the breakfast that came with the workshop. After I was done with the workshop, I rushed off to have lunch with Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch. It was her birthday that weekend, and we went to a nice Japanese place called Ito on Bourke Street.

This is a massive katsu curry! So yummy!

The next day, I asked Grumpy if he wanted to go to church, and he said No. He was sort of recovering from a mild hangover, because he went out for after-work drinks. Instead, at the last minute, we decided to drive all the way to Warburton to a Buddhist monastery as they were having a Buddhist festival. So we quickly packed all of Little Bambi's food, nappy, clothes etc, and we drove about 1.5 hours to Warburton. Grumpy was there to eat all the yummy food prepared by the Buddhist crowd, especially the Thai food. The irony! Going to a Buddhist monastery on Good Friday!

Grumpy and Little Bambi at the Bodhivana monastery

While we usually like to take a drive somewhere and stay for a few nights during the Easter break, we were not able to do so this time round because my brother Dopey and my Dad were flying back from KL to Melbourne on Easter Sunday. So it felt like we were just hanging around at home waiting for their arrival. My cold was not getting much better because I did not want to take any meds while breastfeeding. But I did catch up on sleep on Sunday, which was nice.

She can stand up now! My baby is becoming a little person!

On Easter Monday, we had yumcha as a family with my brother and dad here in Melbourne. 

And there goes our Easter long weekend. Too fast!

We all went back to work yesterday, and suddenly my mum noticed some weird red blotches on her skin, and it turns out to be shingles! Which is bloody awful. So I am staying home today and tomorrow, working from home. 

9 Months

Little Bambi is 9 months old today!

My serious Little Bambi!

The only difference this time round compared to the previous months is that I was at work most of the day, instead of being by her side. I miss her so terribly much while I am at work.

Taking these month old portraits are becoming much more challenging because she will not stay still, not even for two seconds. She has grown bored of her toys (What Sophie??), and enjoys going to the coffee table and book shelf in the lounge room and taking things out with her little hands. Our lounge room is a bit of a mess during the afternoons.

Apart from crawling, she is able to sit on her own very well. When its bedtime, we put her in her sleeping bag, then we kiss her goodnight and leave her room. I will quietly open the door in a few minutes to check on her, and I constantly find her sitting up in her cot, just playing and talking to herself. She can say "Ah dahh dahhh" "Ahh mahhhh" "Na na na na na".

She has two teeth now at 9 months.

Her favourite food at the moment is avocado mixed with apple. Loves it!

Swimming school has its bad days and good days. However, she loves the play area in the pool, with the fountains, water cannons etc. I decided to stop her swimming lessons at the end of this month, especially since its autumn now. Maybe we can find another family activity for our Saturday afternoons.

She has learnt how to blow through her mouth. Sometimes it makes funny noises, and she loves it. I love it too. If only I could teach her how to whistle! Haha

At 9 months, I am still breastfeeding.

At 9 months, she has a passion for books. We read a lot to her, and she loves the touchy-feely books.

And, she is also potty trained! I think this is a Malaysian thing, my mum was very keen to potty train Little Bambi as soon as she was born. Little Bambi is so funny on the potty. She knows she sits on the potty to do a number one or a number two. And she does not want to be on the potty any longer than necessary. The whole potty process takes less than 5 minutes, and we are done!

Now at 9 months, time flies especially since I am working full time. Next up on my list is Little Bambi's first birthday party! I will make it extra special. But reasonable of course. Nothing over the top. Just a cosy little party for family and friends.

First Tooth

I can't believe I have already completed three weeks of full time work. How does it feel? I am exhausted! It is really tiring. And having said that, I still have my mum helping us out at home. Apart from looking after Little Bambi, she cooks our dinners, does all our laundry, cleans the house etc. I can't imagine when she goes back to KL! I will be a mess!

My day starts at 5.30am, and I get everything done (breakfast/shower/make-up) by 6.30am. Then I wake Little Bambi up, and feed her. We are done by 7am, then I put on my work clothes. I help put on a beanie and a cardigan for her, then she comes with me to the train station in her trike.
Work is really hectic at the moment. We are just three months from Go Live in a massive project. This project is huge. Bigger than the project I worked on in 2006/2007. But then again, I am not sure if I want to be where I am right now. Each week, I stay back past 5pm at least 3 times and I find it extremely frustrating because I want to go home and spend time with my baby! I sometimes wonder if I should just ask for an easier role, a no-brainer type role. Then I can have my normal lunch breaks and go home on time. My new lady boss is such a busy person that because of her, some days I am stuck in meetings during my lunch hour. Having a late lunch is not that big an issue, but I need at least a 30 minute time-out (around 11am-12pm) just to sit in a room with a breast pump in one hand. 

On a different note, my Little Bambi had her first tooth appear on Monday this week. She is quite late in the teething department compared to her peers. She is already more than 8 and a half months, and only just started teething now. Anyways, teething is not fun at all, for baby, or for mum. She had a bit of a temperature on Monday and Tuesday, and to make matters worse, the weather here is very hot at the moment. I got a bit emotional when I saw her first tooth cut through. It just means that she's growing up so fast and turning into a real little person now!

I miss her so much while I am at work

A Working Mum

Today is the last day of my maternity leave. Well, my weekend was just absolutely perfect, so I guess it was a nice way to end my 8 and a half months mini-holiday/time-off. Grumpy didn't work this weekend or play golf at all, which was a bit of a change!

On Friday night, Grumpy and I left Little Bambi alone with her Nana, and we went to watch Silver Linings Playbook at the movies. It was good.

Then on Saturday morning, we took Little Bambi for her usual weekly swimming lessons. I attended class with her (in the water), instead of Grumpy. He just didn't have the heart to go through another crying ordeal with her. Before our lesson, we brought Little Bambi to the play area in the pool, called The Pirates Cove. They have water fountains, water cannons, slides, packed with kids, and we let Little Bambi have a play by herself. The water was shallow in some areas and so she could crawl on her own in the water, which she loved so much! By the time we got to our swimming lesson, Little Bambi was thrilled to be in the water, and she did not shed a single tear or let out a cry at all. I was such a proud mama! Hahaha I couldn't stop kissing her during our lesson.

After swimming, we rushed to my cousin's engagement party. Over there, we caught up with family over lunch. Then my mum spent the night at my brother's apartment, giving Grumpy, Little Bambi and myself some alone time. It was really good to be us three again. Not that we don't enjoy my mum's company, its just nice to have Little Bambi all to ourselves again once in a while.

For dinner, Grumpy got greasy chinese takeaway, and we ate outside on the deck with a chilled bottle of pinot grigio. Hehe the weather has been disgusting lately, very warm and humid at times.

At night, Grumpy and I camped/slept outside in the living room under the A/C. Little Bambi was quite tired that she slept through the entire night until the morning so peacefully.

This morning, after breakfast, we brought Little Bambi for a walk in her new trike, along with our much neglected dog. Weather was nice and cool this morning. Then we came home and let her have her morning nap. I was able to do some housework this morning, laundry, cleaning the showers etc. Then we went out to Nandos for lunch. Little Bambi is now strong enough to sit on restaurant highchairs. So we all eat our lunches together with her, which is quite fun! She's so chatty now "ah dah dah.. baa..baa...pstttt...psttttt eyyyyyyyy". Then again, we came home for her afternoon nap. And after she woke up, we brought her to the pool again for another play time! Haha yup thats two days in a row. We dunked her three times in the water and she was not frightened at all. Woo hoo!

For dinner today, Grumpy whipped up a seafood feast on his BBQ and we had my mum and my brother over. It is still a very warm night at the moment, lets just hope I get a good nights sleep tonight and be ready for a new challenge tomorrow!

Ahhh my new journey begins.. becoming a working mum!

8 Months

Little Bambi turned 8 months yesterday, and on Valentines Day, she was clearly my darling Valentine!

We went to see the maternal and child nurse yesterday for her 8 month check up, and she now weighs 10.17kgs. She is on the 98th percentile in terms of weight, which is a bit of a worry for me, but the nurse is very pleased with Little Bambi's progress. She was constantly praising me, saying I am doing very well with my baby! Which is amazing of course! A happy baby that sleeps and eats well, I am indeed very lucky.

At 8 months, I have been cooking all her meals myself still, and have not resorted to feed Little Bambi commercially packed baby food yet. She gets 3 milk feeds (mummy's milk) and 3 meals each day now. Our solid food adventure has been extremely positive. This baby eats anything I give her and she loves it! Phew! I have heard about fussy eaters with babies and it can be quite a challenge.

She crawls very well now, she is so quick. She is a little explorer, she goes everywhere around the house. And from the picture above, she can sit up by herself now. Although she does not stay that way very long, only because she loves moving around.

Last weekend, we celebrated Little Bambi's first Chinese New Year with my family members here in Melbourne. It was fun dressing my baby up in a traditional chinese outfit, and giving her angpao packets to play.

I have been to the office this week to meet up with my new boss. Work sounds pretty exciting and challenging, however I am lying if I say that I am completely fine about returning to work. These past couple of days, I have woken up in the morning with anxiety attacks, knowing that I will not be able to spend much time with Little Bambi now. She's just so much fun these days, so loving and full of character, that being away from her just means I will miss out on plenty of mummy-baby-lovey time. Maternity leave has been so awesome for me. I loved every minute of it.

Come on Jules.. be strong!

Swimming Lessons

Everyday I look at my calendar and I cringe.. its getting closer and closer.. me going back to work..

On Wednesday, a bunch of us 'new mums' from Mothers Group gathered at a local restaurant for dinner and drinks for a girls night out, without our babies. It was really fun! I have read some articles that these mums do end up becoming your friends for life...? Not sure, but we shall see?? One of the mums who has returned to work full time at the start of the year said she only gets to spend two hours a day with her little bub. And that is definitely going to be the same for moi!

You see, I have got it all planned out..
At 6.45am, wake Little Bambi and breastfeed her before work (of course by this time, I would have already been up by 5.30am, have my brekkie, taken a shower and get dressed). Then I will make a mad dash out of the house and run for the train around 7.30am-7.40am. Then at 5pm, I will also leave work and probably get home by 6pm. And that is an hour left with Little Bambi before she goes to sleep at 7pm. Yeap, these 7pm-7am sleep routine babies..

I signed Little Bambi up for swimming school at our local pool recently, and two Saturdays ago was her first lesson. With these swimming lessons, some of the mums told me its a father-baby bonding thing, and so I persuaded Grumpy to go in the water with her. Between the two of us, Grumpy is not a swimmer at all. But throw me in a pool, and I would be happy doing laps!

As you can see with the pictures above, her head is completely dry. She is fine in a pool without getting her face or head wet. 

However... when Humpty Dumpty had a great fall (i.e. cue for when the babies get dunked in the water)... hahaha she bursts into tears!!

Little Bambi annoyed, while holding on a toy for dear life

On a different note, I had to share these pictures of dinner Grumpy made recently on Australia Day. The good ole' beer battered fish and chips.

It was cooked to perfection - crunchy, light and so tasty! Flat head tails, my favourite! And he even made some grilled fish for me, a healthier option. Since we have Little Bambi now, who sleeps at 7pm, we hardly go out for dinner at restaurants. Instead, Grumpy whips something special at home, especially now in summer, on his BBQ at his deck. And we share a bottle of wine, or some beer and cider. And you know what? Its actually quite fun! 

3rd Wedding Anniversary

Its that time of the (new) year again, where we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This is our 3rd wedding anniversary and while initially I had a romantic night out planned with Grumpy at a nice restaurant and even organised for Dopey to babysit Little Bambi on a Saturday night, things did not exactly go as planned. First up, the restaurant I wanted was completely booked out (its the long weekend with Australia Day), and second, Dopey just sold his car and what that means is that he will have to take the train to our place and... suddenly, everything just got a bit more complicated.

Anyways, on Tuesday, Grumpy had the day off and we decided for an impromptu drive to the Yarra Valley for lunch, along with Little Bambi. We picked our usual restaurant Innocent Bystander at Healesville. The last time we were here, was during our babymoon, and Little Bambi was still inside my belly!

Little Bambi chewing on a baguette

Grumpy feeding baby with a pint of beer, yikes!

It was such a relaxing day that even Little Bambi was happy and calm, keeping us company while we ate our lunch. Grumpy said it was really fun and a great way to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

7 Months

Little Bambi is now 7 months old. I am feeling very emotional at the moment, only because this marks the final month of my maternity leave. I go back to work when Little Bambi is 8 months old. I feel quite sad and I am sure many other mothers out there that have gone back to work would have gone through the same feeling as I am now. However, I am determined to make it work, as in, working full time and being a caring and loving mother to my little girl.

This photo always puts a smile on my face

At 7 months, she has attempted crawling. She can lift herself up and is very strong. She definitely is very mobile at the moment. I have resorted to buying a playpen for her, just to make sure she stays within reach.

She has also had her first taste of chicken. I am cooking for her based on Annabel Karmel's recipes and so far, Little Bambi is loving it!

Bakewell Tarts

Growing up as a kid, my dad used to live in Lumut, Perak (Malaysia) because that is where the Royal Malaysian Navy base is. One of his friends's wife is a lovely British lady and she used to make Bakewell tarts for us. I still remember she would make about two dozen of these tarts and pack them into the big Milo tins for us. It was so delicious!

Recently, I asked her for the recipe. She is probably 70 years old now, does not own a computer or have email, so she took a photocopy of the original recipe and she put it in the post for me. The recipe is so old that it is in ounces and pounds. When I got it in my letterbox, I was so excited!

I made it today, and it turned out exactly like how I remembered it, which is YUMMY! This is a simple recipe and that is what makes it so amazing. Simplicity at its best!

I am going to share it with you here. I halved the ingredients from the original recipe (I tend to half a lot of recipes only because it is impossible for Grumpy and I to eat so much), and of course, I converted it from ounces and pounds to grams.

Bakewell Tarts

(makes a dozen)

Filling

55g caster sugar

55g butter or margarine

55g plain flour

1 egg

1 level teaspoon baking powder

Jam (I use a good quality strawberry jam)

Pastry

200g plain flour

100g butter

1/4 cup water

pinch of salt

1. To make filling, beat sugar and butter till creamy. Add the egg. Fold in flour and baking powder. Set aside

2. To make pastry, sift the flour. Add the butter and salt. Rub together with the fingertips till flour and butter are mixed. Add water a little at a time, taking care not to allow the mixture to get too wet.

3. Grease cake tins. Roll out the pastry using cake cutters. Place in cake tins.

4. Put a teaspoon of jam in each tin, then add a teaspoon of filling mix.

5. Cook on lower shelf in oven at 180deg Celcius, for 20 minutes.

6. When pastry turns brownish, put up to a higher shelf for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!