All posts about our firstborn, Mio Elise Allen.
It seems that spring is finally here. Or rather, based on the weather we’ve been getting this week, that we’ve skipped it altogether and jumped from winter to summer! We’ve been enjoying temperatures up in 80s so far this week, but after months of chilliness, the warmer weather is a welcome respite. I’m not complaining!
Here are some snapshots from the past few days, including the weekend.
Mio turned two yesterday, and while we opted not to have a big birthday party with friends this year, we spent the daytime playing outside and had a little get-together with the family in the evening to celebrate with BonChon Chicken dinner, birthday cake, and opening presents! Here are some snapshots and video from throughout the day…
I love this video that Dan took of Mio while we sang “Happy Birthday” to her. She seemed to know exactly what was going on, and that she had to blow out the candles at the end! I love her excited smile and clapping at the end…
…but then of course she thought the candles were candy and stuck one in her mouth! Very much a Mio thing to do. haha* You can see how much she loves eating the cake in the following video:
After cake, we opened some birthday presents together! Dan and I got her a dollhouse, while my parents got her a family of dolls to match. Her reaction was more than we had anticipated — she was ecstatic! 😀
She also got some sweet and generous gifts from Uncle Ted and Auntie Elisa!
While it was a small birthday celebration in comparison to the birthday party we threw her for her first birthday last year, it seemed to leave quite an impression on her. Afterwards, she kept saying “two” in search of the candle shaped like a 2, and has been carrying it around with her ever since! I also caught her serving her stuffed animals toy cupcakes and singing to them “Happy~ to you~” (since she can’t say “birthday”) yet. It warms my heart to see how much she enjoyed and appreciated the family celebrating her birthday and how much love she must’ve felt!
My dearest Mio Elise,
Happy birthday to my sweet little girl! I can hardly believe that you are already two years old.
We have watched you grow and transform from a newborn, to a baby, to a toddler in what feels like a blink of an eye. I’m constantly telling Dan “This is my favorite age of hers†because in each of those moments, they’ve felt like just that. You are still so small, and yet you are bursting with so much personality, emotion, and life. You’re brave and fearless in exploring and discovering new things, and have such a sweet and tender heart towards those around you.
These past two years have been so precious and dear to our hearts, and we can’t wait for this next year, and all the years to follow. We’re so excited to watch how you’ll continue to grow and to discover the lovely girl — and eventually, woman — that you will become!
The happiest of birthdays to the sweet little girl who made me a mother, who brightens our days, who gives us a million reasons to smile and laugh. You are loved far more than you can possibly imagine.
I can’t wait to spend a lifetime of these priceless moments with you.
♥ Mama
Stats: We haven’t been to the doctor’s in a while, but I’m pretty sure certain you weigh around 29 or 30 lbs now, and I can barely pick you up for more than 2 minutes. I’ll update with more specific height and weight measurements in a couple weeks after we go in for your two year checkup at the pediatrician.
Things You’re Doing Now: You’re more independent than ever, and continue to imitate things that we do. You’re starting to show a very thoughtful and nurturing side to you: you pretend to change your stuffed animals’ diapers, prepare and feed them play food, and take them on strolls in your doll stroller. You’re learning your manners and you say “please” (although right now, it sounds more like “fwee”), and “arigato” (but it comes out more like, “a-to”). You’re definitely repeating a lot more of the words that you hear us saying, which makes us wonder if you’re on the brink of that verbal explosion that a lot of parents say comes a little after kids turn two. You’re starting to recognize certain letters of the alphabet and numbers by sight (particularly the letter “C” and number “2” are your favorites that you spot and point out most). Just today, we heard what sounded like you counting the first few numbers in Japanese as you went up each step on the stairs! At bedtime, you’ve gotten clever about picking out the longest books to ensure that you maximize your storytime before going to bed. You still want us to read you at least five books at night and sing to you before putting you to bed, but while you used to cry and protest for a couple minutes every night when going to bed, lately you’ve seem to come to peace with the routine and cheerfully say “bye bye” when it’s time for you to go to sleep. I saw some brief flashes of jealousy at a playgroup the other day when one of the moms asked me to hold and watch her newborn baby while she took her older child to the bathroom — you were playing across the room from me, but did a double take when you glanced over and saw the baby in my arms, and came running over whining and fake-crying “Mama!” It was quite a surprise to see! You’re eating more than ever these days, and it feels like you are eating/snacking on food of some sort every waking hour! You’re definitely the picture of health as usual, and while the rest of the family fell sick this past month, you were the only one who remained immune to the cold and flu. You’re starting to exhibit more playfulness and interest in other toddlers your age, especially at the Japanese playgroup we’ve recently started attending. While the frustrations and tantrums of the “terrible two”s are still there, you’ve also become sweeter and more affectionate in recent months — you’ve been showing such a wide variety of moods lately, and you keep us guessing and entertained every day.
Mio got dressed up for Easter Sunday so I thought I’d post some pictures. It’s hard to believe that our sweet baby girl is already turning two this week!
Special thanks to Jina for the beautiful dress! Mio is finally big enough to wear it! 🙂
Hina-matsuri, or “Girls’ Day” in Japan, is celebrated every year on March 3. While the day is a celebration of little girls everywhere, the literal translation of hina-matsuri is “The Japanese Doll Festival,” and as it suggests, a major part of the celebration involves bringing out the display of a set of ornamental dolls, called hina-ningyo in Japan. They represent the Emperor and Empress, and the more elaborate traditional sets have several platforms and include attendants and musicians in addition to the royal couple, all dressed in the traditional court dresses of the Heian period. Families who have young daughters typically display the dolls in early to mid-February and take them down immediately after Girls’ Day. It’s said that leaving the dolls up past March 4 will invite bad luck and that the daughter will marry late in life.
In Japan, virtually all families with a daughter would have a set of these dolls in their household. My mom told me about how the set that she grew up with had been one that was passed on for multiple generations so parts of the dolls were broken or had missing props, but that she and her sisters couldn’t contain their excitement and joy to see the dolls brought out every year for them. As a little girl myself, I always wanted a hina-ningyo doll set to be put on display for me, but the traditional sets can cost thousands of dollars, and were impossible to find here in the States, so there was never one in our house growing up. Last year, I considered finding one for Mio because I wanted her to be able to experience the time-honored tradition that I couldn’t have, but alas, it’s still nearly impossible to find them in the States, and while there are cheaper plush and plastic versions sold in Japan, the traditional ones are still pretty darn expensive! Factor in shipping (if they even ship to the US), and I couldn’t find anything affordable.
So imagine my surprise when last week, on Valentine’s Day, a huge package arrived on our doorstep from Japan. It was from my Aunt Chikako (my father’s sister) and her husband, Uncle Koichi. It was addressed to my father, with a letter from my aunt saying “Dear Older Brother, I would like to pass on my ohinasama set to Dan and Misono’s beloved daughter Mio.” I was honestly so surprised and excited by the unexpected gift that it overshadowed any Valentine’s Day gifts and surprises that Dan had prepared for me!
Earlier this week, I set up the display in Mio’s room, up high on top of the dresser so she couldn’t easily reach it. I did at one point pull up a chair for her to stand on so she could admire the dolls more closely (under our supervision, of course).
Mio is usually very rough in handling things like her toys and random objects, as most toddlers are, but she seemed to understand that the dolls and their accompanying props were not to be handled carelessly. She didn’t even really venture to touch anything for the first several minutes, just gazing at everything and taking it all in, occasionally poking something gently here and there.
When “viewing time” was over, there was one thing that Mio decided to snatch up as I took her off of the chair and away from the display…
