My parents wanted to go see the peonies that were in bloom at Meadowlark Gardens, so we went on Friday morning to walk around the gardens and admire the flowers. Here are some snapshots I took on my phone!
Meadowlark Peonies
grandmother
Prettying Up
Mio has always been very observant, and in recent months, she likes to imitate what she sees people around her doing. One of my favorites is how she sees me spreading toner and moisturizer on my face every night, and pretends to slap and rub some on her own cheeks with the biggest smile on her face. She loves doing this so much that every time she goes to the sink and gets some water on her hands, she does the same thing. It’s really funny and cute to watch.
This morning, Mio was watching my mother applying makeup with much curiosity, and wanted to try it herself, too. My mother handed her a near-empty powder compact, and Mio went to town with it! It reminded me of how I’d always sneak into my mother’s makeup as a little girl and try on her lipstick and blush, very eager to grow up and feel like a lady!
Here’s a video of Mio “prettying up” in my parents’ room.
I’d thought that Mio was going to grow up to be a tomboy, but lately she seems to be very interested in girly activities like skincare/makeup, trying on different shoes, hats, and accessories (she loves to raid my necklaces, bracelets, and sunglasses… and my sister’s, too), and twirling around while dancing. I’d thought that this stage would come much later (maybe around 3 years old or so at the earliest), so it kind of took me by surprise! I think, though, she’s just interested in trying everything grownups are doing in general, rather than the “girly girl” aspect of it.
My sweet little girl… don’t grow up too fast on me! 😉
Fun with the Baby Pool
As it is with a lot of grandparents, my mom has a tendency to want to pamper her grandchild, and she always insists on buying babygear and toys for Mio that she can use while in Virginia, even though we’re rarely here for over two weeks at a time. (We already have a separate car seat, high chair, and travel crib that will always be waiting for us in Virginia… I do admit that it makes our life a whole lot easier!) She went out for a shopping run yesterday morning and came back with a baby pool! Because it was very sunny and the perfect weather for some splashing around, we took it out to the backyard for Mio to play in it. This was Mio’s first experience with any sort of pool, as where we live in Northern California rarely gets hot enough to be pool weather, so it was pretty exciting!
Here’s a video I took of the pooltime fun!
Hopefully we’ll get several more uses of the baby pool during our stay here in Virginia! Mio has always loved the water (she relishes bathtime), so I can see this pool becoming very addictive for her. 😛
I remember spending many of my summer days as a young child playing in a kiddie pool of our own in the same backyard with my siblings, and I can’t help but smile as I think back on all the fun we had. One of the best parts of becoming a parent is how we are given the opportunity to be a kid again — to relive the best of our childhood memories all over again, except this time with a deeper understanding of just how precious those moments are. I hope that someday, Mio will look back on all those happy moments we’ll share with the same fondness and smile.
100 Days of Mio
Yesterday on Sunday, July 10th, Mio turned 100 days old! A baby’s 100th day is a milestone in several Asian cultures, and traditionally in Japan it’s celebrated with a ceremony called okuizome.
Excerpted from Wikipedia:
When a baby is 100 days old, Japanese families celebrate a weaning ceremony called ‘‘okuizome,’’ or first food. This ceremony traditionally involves a large shared meal prepared by the mother-in-law. The menu varies by region. Traditionally, a small pebble is placed on each plate and the adults symbolically bite down on it. This ritual is meant to wish the baby a life of abundant food without hunger as well as good strong teeth. While a father or grandfather may pretend to feed the baby solid food during these festivities, the baby is usually still drinking exclusive milk.
We did not have a formal okuizome ceremony, but Mio got to spend the day enjoying lots of time with loved ones! In the morning, we went over to Berkeley to have brunch with my dear friend Julianne, who happened to be in town! The last time we saw Juli, I was still pregnant, so this was her first time meeting baby Mio.
Later in the day, Mio’s grandparents (Dan’s parents) came over to have a celebratory lunch with Mio. Dan’s mother made and brought over some delicious sushi rolls! Mio couldn’t have any, of course, but we very much enjoyed the food on her behalf! 😉
Mio started to fall asleep, so we put her in her bouncer and she immediately woke up and started to cry when she realized she was no longer in anyone’s arms….
We feel so blessed and lucky that Mio is so healthy and she’s already given us so much joy in the past 100 days. In some cultures, the 100th Day is also celebrated as the one year mark since the baby came to exist in the womb. Sure enough, it was around this time last year that Mio started to develop within me — it’s amazing to see that only a year later, we have such a big, healthy 3-month old in our arms! I used to feel like the nine months of pregnancy was unbearably long (especially while I was experiencing it), but if you look at it from that perspective, it’s pretty incredible that a fully functional human can be created from nothing in a mere nine months! Life is truly a miracle.
Mio has already changed our lives forever in this short period of time, and we cannot wait to see how she continues to blossom and bring more joy to us as well as those around her.
“My heart is yours.
My spirit sings with love.
For you. My child.
You’ve grown yourself,
inside me.
Foot under my rib.
One became two.
At last you are here.
Sleeping on my chest.
Clutching my tangled hair in your hand.
Your dark eyes calm as a lake.
Your breathing making me safe.
You who gave birth to this mother.
A life. My child.
We gave birth to each other.
I kiss your face.
A million times a day.
I sit still and listen.
To the whisper of your wisdom.
To life, right now.
This is love, my love.”
— ULRICA
Smiling for Obaachan
Although Mio has been smiling for about a month now, her smiles have been few and far between. But since arriving in Virginia, she’s been smiling a lot for everyone, particularly for her obaachan (grandmother). 🙂
(She’s not smiling in these last couple ones, but I thought they were also cute grandmother-granddaughter moments… :))
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