Mio can’t get enough of being outside and walking around lately — when I take her outside, she’ll initially stand outside on the pavement, stunned and taking in all the sights and sounds and fresh air… and then a huge grin will spread across her face and she’ll start toddling around everywhere. It’s pretty adorable! But then when it’s time to go back inside, she starts crying and has a meltdown, because she wanted to stay out longer.
So you can imagine Mio’s excitement when she got to go to the park for the first time on Thursday! We had a playdate with her friend Sofia, and they live right by the park — both Mio and I had never been there, so it was a new place for both of us! Mio was overwhelmed, trying to take everything in and seeing all the other children at the playground (she’s really interested in other babies/toddlers lately, especially ones that are older than her). She even rode on the swing for the first time!
She was pretty apprehensive, with her signature furrowed brows.
Watching the other kids.
It looks like it may take some time for Mio to really enjoy the swing, but at least she didn't cry!
Bathed in the afternoon light...
Sofia and Mio crawling
The weather was gorgeous, and it was so relaxing to have playtime on the grass!
15-month old Sofia and 11-month old Mio
They are so adorable together!
You can see from Mio's smile how much she's loving the park!
(Thanks Sonya for the photo)
The park is about a 25-30 minute walk away, but we’d love to take more trips over there as the weather gets nicer! It’s great stimulation for Mio and good exercise for Mama, too! 🙂 I’m such a homebody, so it’s sometimes difficult to push myself to get out of the house, but I have to do it for both our sakes!
Thank you Sonya and Sofia for inviting us out to the park — we had such a fun time! 😀
March 3rd is hina-matsuri, or Girls’ Day, in Japan. This is the first hina-matsuri since Mio came into this world, and although we didn’t do anything special because we don’t have a hina-ningyo set (I have yet to find an affordable set… my parents don’t have one at home, either, so I’ve never actually seen one in person!), it was definitely a nice day for myself to reflect in gratitude for our little girl.
I have always wanted a daughter, for as long as I can remember… even when the idea of having children was still that of a distant future, I always imagined a future with a daughter. Of course, I would have been happy whether Mio had been a girl or a boy… but I definitely would have wanted to eventually have at least one girl. Any child, whatever gender they may be, is a blessing and I would love them no matter what, but I couldn’t deny that longing for a daughter… I have to confess that my worst fear going into parenthood, as horrible as it may sound, was that I’d only have sons! I couldn’t wait to have a sweet little girl that I could dress up and dote on… who, when they eventually grew up, I could have heart-to-heart talks with. Boys are great too, and a good number of them are Mama’s boys, but there is something so unique about the bond and relationship between a mother and daughter. I’ve seen my own relationship with my mother grow and take on an added dimension to it in recent years, one that is very much like a close friendship. My cousin once told me that a daughter is such a gift because they will be a lifelong best friend to their mother. I couldn’t wait to have my own daughter whom I could nurture such a deep, beautiful connection with.
During my first trimester when I was pregnant with Mio, I was anxious to find out the gender, but for some reason, I was convinced that I was going to have a boy. It was mostly thanks to all the old wives’ tales my mother fed me about how having really strong morning sickness is a sure sign that you will be having a son (completely unfounded, but for some reason, I bought into it), but I also had a gut feeling. I was of course prepared to welcome and love our baby no matter what the gender was, but perhaps my brain knew that deep down in my heart, I secretly yearned for a girl, and it was its way of guarding me and making sure I didn’t set myself up for even the slightest feeling of disappointment. (You can see how paranoid even the deepest recesses of my brain are….) So when the ultrasound tech at my 20-week appointment told me that I was having a girl, I was stunned and in disbelief for a few moments. I had to ask her a couple times how sure she was of that, because in my head I had already pictured having a baby boy and realized I had not even really let myself imagine the baby as a girl. She confirmed to me that from what she could see, it was pretty certain. As the information sunk in, my disbelief gradually turned into elation — I was having a girl! The daughter I had always wanted! My dream had come true. At first, I couldn’t believe it, but my heart soared and I felt so happy that I could kiss the sky!
And now, with Mio turning one year old in a few weeks, there’s still a part of me that’s in disbelief that this sweet, beautiful little girl waddling around me is my very own. She trusts and loves me unconditionally, and as she grows older, will study me as an example of a grown woman (although whether she decides to follow my example is completely up to her… I of course would want her to reach for greater heights and become much more). In time, she’ll go into my closet to try on my shoes and accessories, and sneak into my makeup and smear her face with my lipstick, just as I had done with my mother’s. Several years later, I’ll buy her her first training bra, and have to explain to her grownup things (but hopefully that won’t come too soon… yikes!), and someday, I may go shopping with her to find a wedding dress. I hope that no matter where we end up in thirty years, we’ll have the kind of relationship my mother and I have, where at least once in two days, one of us will find ourselves unconsciously reaching for the phone to call the other, where we can laugh together over silly things and confide in each other on more serious topics. I know that in between now and then, there will definitely be rough times, when she wants nothing to do with me, or think her friends are more worth her time, but I hope she will always know that I will always be there for her when she needs a place to come back to or someone to listen, and that she will never doubt how much I love her.
Dearest Mio, I dreamt you long before I birthed you. You are the daughter of my dreams.
Mio turns 11 months old today… which means she is one month away from turning one! Incredible how fast time flies. Here’s our sweet daughter now, with more personality than ever!
(I’ll be taking photos of Mio sitting in my white desk chair and wearing her monthly onesie every month until she’s one year old.)
Stats: You still weigh around 22 pounds, and while you used to be in the 80th to 95th percentiles in weight and height in your first several months, since your growth has hit a plateau, you are now more in the 60 to 65th percentile range. One thing that is still really large, though, is your head size — as your pediatrician says, “someone in the family has a big head!” I thought it was Daddy, but he maintains that it is me. (I suppose looking at it proportionally, he is right.)Â You still have eight teeth — although it’s hard to really see whether or not you’re getting more in because it’s difficult to get you to open your mouth wide enough to get a clear look. You’re still in 18 month size clothes, but we’ll probably be moving you up to 24 month size soon.
March 3rd is hina-matsuri, or Girls’ Day, in Japan. This is the first hina-matsuri since Mio came into this world, and although we didn’t do anything special because we don’t have a hina-ningyo set (I have yet to find an affordable set… my parents don’t have one at home, either, so I’ve never actually seen one in person!), it was definitely a nice day for myself to reflect in gratitude for our little girl.
