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!

2012 in review and on to 2013

Its no surprise that the most significant event for me this year, and the rest of my life is the birth of my first child! Since she arrived, my blog has been mainly about her and breastfeeding. Haha Little Bambi is now 6 and a half months, and only thing I dread about the New Year is leaving her side to return to work.

More highlights of the year:

- Being a mother has changed me completely. Suddenly, I am shopping in baby shops, reading up on baby topics and baby everything!

- Going on maternity leave. I swear, I have been enjoying every minute of it. I am taking 8 months of maternity leave, and during this 8 months, I am still getting half my wages each month. Which is money in my bank account, and with this, Little Bambi and I go shopping, we buy nice things, we eat nice food and have a good time together.

- Seeing my BFF marry the love of her life! Did I mention... there's a little baby on the way!

- Turning 30.

2013 I hope to:

- Juggle my family and a full time job. It will be hard work, but I want to make it possible! I want to be a good mother to Little Bambi and at the same time, have a career.

- Eat better. Somehow this year we have been having fast food at least once a week because its quick, convenient and cheap. I should really stop! I don't want my little baby to even go near McDonalds.

- Exercise and be healthy.

- Buy an investment property. Wishful thinking, but I am convinced I can make it happen. Reading my old posts, I did mention that I wanted to change the carpets in my house, which I have not done yet!

Today, at this point in time, I am happy! I had a lovely Christmas and apart from returning to work very soon, I hope the New Year will bring more wonderful experiences for the three of us - Little Bambi, Grumpy and I.

Happy New Year!!