Mio received a ride-on car as a generous birthday gift from our friends, and she loves playing with it — honking the horn, turning the ignition, pushing the car around, and of course riding on it. The other day, she ran off to the other room after playing with it and when I entered the living room, I was greeted by a curious sight.
She had placed a pack of travel wipes on the seat of the car, and propped up a panda doll keychain on top of those wipes. It was all stacked quite neatly, right at the front of the seat, by the steering wheel. I was both amused and perplexed… what did it all mean?
Did Mio sit the panda on top of the wipes as a “booster seat” so that it could reach the steering wheel? Probably not… I’m pretty sure her one year old brain is not thinking that complexly yet, and that it’s just a coincidence… but I like entertaining the idea! Who knows how those little gears are turning in that little head?
Now that Mio is one year old and eating a lot of the same foods we are eating, we decided that it was a good time for her to learn how to brush her teeth. She grew her eight teeth in a matter of a few weeks months ago, but she hasn’t grown any ever since. I feel like I probably should have started brushing her teeth a while ago, although she’s been using a teething toothbrush to bite on until now. Yesterday was her first time using a big girl toothbrush! Our dentist gave one to us a little while ago which is the perfect size for her!
She already has the hang of it! 🙂
Brushing those little front teeth.
Even reaching towards the molars that she doesn't have yet... lol.
Now she's just gumming it... sigh.
Gotta keep those pearly whites sparkly! Good habits start early. 🙂
Continuing from Part I and Part II of Mio’s birthday party posts, here’s the finale portion of Mio’s first birthday celebration — the smash cake! While we had made plenty of cupcakes to go around for our guests (in lieu of a birthday cake), we had a dedicated birthday cake all for Mio to enjoy! For those who are not familiar with a smash cake, it’s a common first birthday tradition where the child is encouraged to attack the cake with her fingers, fists, or face — no utensils required! It typically makes a huge mess on both the baby and the surrounding area, but it’s a whole lot of fun for the grown-ups to watch and get a good laugh out of it. And I’m sure most children don’t mind digging into a sweet dessert without restraint, so it’s a win-win for all!
Dan with Mio's smash cake
Because we haven’t really exposed Mio to anything with sugar in her diet yet, and would like to avoid giving her sweets for as long as we can manage, I did some research before making her smash cake, to see if there were any wholesome cake recipes that didn’t contain sugar and artificial sweeteners. Thankfully, it seems that there are many other mothers out there who feel the same, and I was able to find some helpful resources and recipes! After going through various recipes, I decided on making a carrot cake that used applesauce and apple juice concentrate as sweeteners in place of sugar, and that used whole wheat flour instead of enriched white flour. (I took a taste of it when it came out of the oven, and it actually still tasted pretty sweet, thanks to the natural sweetness of the apples and carrots!) The frosting was the toughest part, as most frosting depends on sugar to achieve its thickness and ability to crust, and many of the sugar-free recipes I found on the web used artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes like Equal and Splenda, which I think are just as bad (if not worse) for a baby to ingest. I ended up using a stabilized whipped cream recipe, which used gelatin to help it hold its shape, and added some meringue powder as well to help with stiffening the frosting. I then added icing colors to achieve the hues I wanted as I frosted roses onto the carrot cake. Even stabilized, the whipped cream was melting down the sides of the cake (see picture) while I was frosting it, and I had to keep it in the freezer until right before the party began to make sure it held its shape. I guess something’s gotta give when you are working with limited ingredients! I am just happy that I was able to make a cake that was pretty healthy and wholesome and still enjoyable to eat.
Mio went to town with the cake and really worked the crowd (she’s quite the entertainer!), but you can see for yourself here in the video, or scroll further down to see the cake demolition step by step!
Mio staring at everyone while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.
My little birthday girl!
Reaching her hands in...
Scooping up the frosting...
Fistfuls of frosting!
Bringing it to her mouth!
"Go Mio! Go Mio!"
Surrounded by paparazzi!
Going for more...
An impressive cake beard.
She just keeps going...
The cake didn't stand a chance.
Breaking into the cake
A sheepish smile.
"Banzai! I am victorious against the cake!"
Me surveying the damage.
Mio trying to hand me a handful of frosting. "Here, have some!" No thanks, Mio...
The demolished cake.
Afterwards, Mio changed out of her caked dress and we gathered around to open presents.
Thank you Sarah for the adorable lamb hat!
Mio with her lovely new ruffle shoes!
Because Mio had been up from 6:45 am, and didn’t take her morning nap due to all the excitement, she was noticeably cranky and tired by the 3 o’clock hour when we were opening presents. I can’t believe she was able to stay up that long!
Starting to whine.
Getting more and more cranky.
We tried to carry on opening presents, despite all her protests.
Mio ended up curling up in Daddy's lap, crying with her eyes closed.
Can't... stay... awake.
And within a minute, she passed out. Poor Mio was exhausted.
It was so noisy, but she didn't even stir. Even rolling a toy on her doesn't wake her up. She was out cold.
So we just continued opening presents on her behalf, in peace.
Thank you everyone for all the generous and thoughtful gifts!
In all my busy-ness running around during the party, I lamely didn’t take many pictures with our guests! I have what little photos I have with them from pulling them off of friends’ Facebook and phone uploads. Thank you to everyone who shared their photos with me, and if you have any more photos from the party, please feel free to send them on over! 🙂
Adorable Megumi and Sam with their mason jar mugs.
With lovely Sam!
With beautiful Megumi, who has spoiled Mio so much, from even before she was born!
With Jason! Thanks for coming from all the way across the bridge!
Hyang Sun was 8 months pregnant at the party and was still a month away from her due date, but she ended up having her baby girl a month early, the day after Mio's birthday party! Congratulations!
Special thanks to Wynn, Megumi, and Sam who came an hour before the party started to help with last-minute preparations and set-up! We couldn't have pulled it off without their help.
I didn't get to take a photo of the favor box until after all the favors were gone, but we gave away our homemade cookies in little packages for our guests to take home with them.
See below for a slideshow of all the photos taken at the party! (We couldn’t post all of them on the blog without crashing your browser.)
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Mio’s birthday party to celebrate with us! It was definitely memorable and we will treasure these precious memories for years and decades to come. Our first year as parents was definitely a challenge and had its fair share of ups and downs, but it is thanks to the love and support of our family and friends that we’ve been able to come this far. We look forward to many more great memories together with you! 😀
For Mio’s first birthday party, we wanted to incorporate a Japanese traditional element into the celebration, and decided to have her carry issho mochi, followed by erabitori. Here’s a little background information on these two customs…
ISSHO MOCHI (一å‡é¤…)
A common Japanese first birthday custom is to have the toddler carry piggyback a large mochi (rice cake) weighing 1 sho. The word for the volume unit issho (一å‡), roughly equivalent to 1.8 liters, is a homophone for issho (一生) meaning “a whole lifetime,†and the issho mochi (一å‡é¤…) symbolizes the parents’ hope that the child will never go hungry throughout her lifetime.
The discomfort brought on by the sudden yoking of the child to the rice cakes can also be said to signify an introduction to the future challenges which lay in store for the child as she grows older. It’s like saying, “this is what life is like, kiddo!â€
When the child falls down on her backside after having stood for a second or two, it is said that the child’s impurities are washed away. The heavy weight making it difficult for the child to stand has another significance as well — it is an expression of the parents’ desire that their child not grow up too fast.
ERABITORI (é¸ã³å–ã‚Š)
Another part of a Japanese first birthday tradition is an event known as erabitori (é¸ã³å–ã‚Š), the literal translation being “to pick and keep an item.” The following objects were set before Mio. It is said that the first object that the baby selects will show her calling, or a tendency towards a specific career field.
WRITING BRUSH: Artist / Writer CALCULATOR: Merchant / Good with calculation MONEY: Blessed with an abundance of wealth, property, and other material goods SCISSORS: Skillful hands / Fashion MEASURING RULER: Methodical / Own a big house CHOPSTICKS: Chef / Never go hungry DICTIONARY: Scholar / Academic Excellence BALL: Athlete / Outstanding motor reflexes
How did Mio fare with these birthday activities? You can see a play-by-play with the following photos further down, or just watch the video:
Mio in her Japanese hakama.
"Are you ready?"
Setting up the erabitori items.
Explaining what each item means.
Mio carrying the issho mochi on her back.
At first, she plunked down and refused to move forward.
Dan looks stressed... lol.
Will she make it?!
Mio starts walking with the issho mochi.
Go Mio, Go!
Making her way across the room.
Reaching Mama
Stumbling as she reaches her goal.
Untying the mochi from Mio's back.
What will she pick?
She picked the scissors!
The scissors mean she will be skilled with her hands, or have a career in fashion.
Not letting go of the scissors.
She's got a death grip on it.
Good job, Mio!
Scissors in her mouth...
We're so proud of you, Mio!
Mio successfully carried the issho mochi, and we got a peek at Mio’s destiny when she picked the scissors during erabitori. We’re excited about the possibility that she will be crafty, like both of her parents!
(Special thanks to Megumi for the video footage and some of the photos taken on her phone that we used in this post!)
We have yet to post about the finale activity of Mio’s birthday party, so keep an eye out for Part III! 🙂
On Saturday, we threw Mio a birthday party to celebrate her turning one year old. We held it at Dan’s parents’ house because our own place is too small to accommodate all the guests, but it still got packed with almost forty loving friends and family, and we are so thankful to everyone who made it out to celebrate with us, despite the torrential rain earlier that morning. I had started planning this party about a month ago, and the past couple weeks had been all about preparations for it, and despite some stress and a couple anxiety attacks, I’m happy to say that it turned out to be a wonderful party, and even better than I expected! Thank you to our friends who helped with the cooking and grilling during the party, as well as those who swooped in to help with last-minute preparations. We couldn’t have had such a memorable, enjoyable party without you all! 🙂
Because we have over 300 photos to sort through and video footage that still needs to get uploaded, I’m going to split this up into a few blog posts, or else it will take me forever to get them up. (Additionally, I feel no shame in milking the party for as many blog posts as I can get out of it, because I-worked-hard-godammit! :P)Â So this first post will highlight the party decor, food, favors, etc., while subsequent posts will focus on the birthday activities. Enjoy!
Invitation for Mio's First Birthday Party
Mio's smash cake that I baked and decorated for her.
I made the cake topper with the bunting and lettering, too!
Custom mason jar mugs that doubled as party favors.
We created a stencil and frosted 48 of these mason jars so that each guest could take one home!
It took Dan and I almost a week to frost the mason jars, but people loved them!
Cupcakes with cherry blossom fondant
It was my first time making fondant, but it was fun!
Homemade macarons... (not the best batch ever, unfortunately.) The pink ones had matcha flavored filling!
Cherry blossom brownie bites
Fruit skewers. Special thanks to Sam, Wynn, and Megumi for cutting and assembling them last minute!
There was no shortage of desserts!
Sugar cookies I baked for Mio's birthday. I had a whole bunch more that I packed in 50 little bags as party favors, too!
Futomaki and California rolls
More California rolls! Thank you Grandma and Kimiko-san for making them!
Hummus and pita bread platter
The birthday girl! She was so excited that she skipped her morning nap.
Let the party begin!
Hanging crinkle fans and pom poms
Mio with one of her favorite aunties, Tarrin!
Happy birthday to our sweet daughter!
…and this doesn’t even include the hamburgers and spare ribs that were cooking on the patio. Special thanks to John and Brent for grilling them! 🙂
Three month old Izumi-chan joined us for the party.
So adorable! Hard to remember when Mio was this little, even though it was less than a year ago!
There were plenty of babies to be passed around.
…and a couple older kids for the babies to look up to, too.
Friends spilling out onto the patio to eat.
Mio with Uncle Ted
Lovely sisters Wynn and Sam!
We were reminded of how truly lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives, seeing the outpouring of love at Mio’s birthday party. Stay tuned for more posts in the coming days on the fun activities we had prepared for Mio!
