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!