On Saturday, we had a family outing at the Morcom Municipal Rose Garden over in Oakland. I didn’t take into account that most of the roses don’t bloom until later in the spring and into summer, so the blooms were sparse! Still, the landscaping and layout of the garden is beautiful, and it was nice to just take a stroll around the grounds and enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather.
Mio has been awfully clingy these days, especially in the house. I can't leave a room for five seconds without her coming after me and grabbing my legs. I guess this is the beginnings of separation anxiety?
Showing Mio the ducks.
Trying to hand me a rock.
There is a walkway in the garden called the Mother of the Year Walk. Apparently, there’s an annual celebration of a special woman who dedicates tirelessly to the community. Lined in tree roses, the walk features bronze plaques honoring each year’s Mother-of-the-Year.
Mio is so good at walking now.
She's pointing at the ducks in front of us.
Mio and Mama, among the roses...
A video Dan took of Mio walking about in the garden…
Back in the stroller, watching a scurrying squirrel.
A neat picture I took of Dan and Mio at the top of a stairway of fountains.
Mio started getting restless and wanted to get out of the stroller again.
On Daddy's shoulder, watching a squirrel.
Squirrel!
Suddenly, we heard a loud noise behind us!
"What could it be?!"
A fight had broken out between two territorial male ducks, and they were quacking their beaks off!
Mio pointing to all the commotion.
I’m excited that the rainy season has come to an end, and that we’ll get to have more fun outings to enjoy the great outdoors! 😀
For the full set of photos, see the slideshow below.
Dan was blowing bubbles at Mio in the kitchen Tuesday night, and Mio repeated the word “bubble” back to us — a few times! We caught the moment on video. It’s interspersed with “ba ba ba”s, but you can definitely make out a “bubble” here and there.
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! 🙂
Mio has been aware of our pet chinchillas for a few months now, and she often stares over at them and watches them eat and drink in their cage. She loves when I hold her up to their cage and let her poke her fingers in to touch their fur. Lately, I will give her a treat to feed to them and she’ll hold it out to the chinchillas to grab. (One out of five times, she’ll reach to put it into her own mouth, so I have to be hypervigilant about watching her and ensuring that doesn’t happen.) We captured it on video last night — the smile that spreads across her face every time Diesel or Piper accept a treat from her hand is priceless…!
These guys haven’t made an appearance on the blog for a while, because I’m always writing about Mio, but we still love them! I’ll always remember that our chinchillas (especially Diesel) were our first “babies” before Mio came along.
