Japanese

Mireiâ€™s First Birthday Party: Part II ~ Erabitori

January 28, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Milestones, Mirei, Videos Tags: baby, birthday, erabitori, first birthday, first birthday party, Japanese, Japanese custom, Japanese tradition, Mio, Mirei, one year, one year old

Just as we did with her older sister, we wanted to observe the Japanese first birthday tradition of erabitori at Mirei’s first birthday party. (We opted not to do the issho mochi tradition this time with Mirei, because it was a little heartbreaking when we observed it with Mio.) For those who aren’t familiar with erabitori, here’s a brief explanation.

ERABITORI (é¸ã³å–ã‚Š)

The literal translation for erabitori (é¸ã³å–ã‚Š) is “to pick and keep an item.” The following objects were set before Mirei. 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 business
BELL: Music / Performing Arts
SCISSORS: Skillful hands / Fashion or Crafting
STETHOSCOPE: Doctor or Nurse (Medicine)
CHOPSTICKS: Chef / Culinary Arts, Never go hungry
DICTIONARY: Scholar / Academic Excellence
BALL: Athlete / Career in Sports

So what did Mirei choose? Watch the videos and see the photos below!

Mio kind of caused a scene with a potty emergency while I was explaining the items… ::sigh::

…back to the main attraction! Here is Mirei choosing her item(s).

Walking towards the items... — Walking towards the items…

What will Mirei choose? — What will she choose?

Mirei picking up the bell — …but then picking up the bell.

Our family at Mirei's first birthday — A family picture after Mirei’s erabitori. Still holding that bell! 😛

It was fun to get a peek at Mirei’s possible future calling! Will she excel in business and/or mathematics? Or pursue a career in music and the performing arts? We’ll have to see! She might just be very busy, trying out various fields throughout her life!

Stay tuned for Part III, in which Mirei gets to enjoy her first birthday smashcake!

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April 11, 2014 By Misono in Mio, Mirei, Videos Tags: ã‚†ã‚Šã‹ã”ã®ã†ãŸ, Japanese, lullaby, Mio, Mirei, song, video, yurikago no uta

Mirei loves when we sing her lullabies.

Some more videos from this past week…

…and one of big sister’s interpretive dancing:

Family Day at the Cherry Blossom Festival

March 27, 2014 By Misono in Arts and Culture, Creative Corner, Local Gems, Recreational Fun, Seasonal Celebrations Tags: Cherry Blossom Festival, crafting, crafts, DC, Family Day, Japan, Japanese, metro, National Cherry Blossom Festival, NCBF, taiko, Washington DC

The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC kicked off on March 20 and in its first weekend, they held an event called Family Day at the National Building Museum, where children of all ages could participate in making crafts inspired by Japanese culture and also enjoy performances such as taiko and dance on the stage. We went on Sunday afternoon and Mio really enjoyed all the creative activities that she got to participate in (with some help from us, of course).

NCBF Family Day at the National Building Museum

They had some characters that you could take pictures with, and we thought for sure Mio’d like seeing Cookie Monster, but to our surprise, she burst into tears! This is what I’ve come to call “theÂ Santa Claus effect”… (Strange, because she loved meeting the Sesame Street characters at Dan’s company picnic last year.)

Mio didn't want to meet Cookie Monster. — Mio didn’t want to meet cookie monster.

Trying to salvage the photo opportunity... — Trying to salvage the photo opportunity…

Our first craft activity was to decorate cherry blossom trees with glitter and popcorn.

Mio placing the popcorn "blossoms" on the tree. — Mio placing the popcorn “blossoms” on the tree.

Our collaborative creation! — Our collaborative cha-shitsu creation!

At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and tissue paper. — At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and colored tissue paper.

We took a break to watch the taiko performance.

Posing with the huge cherry blossom balloons behind us.

While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts... — While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts…

Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It's been a while since she's fallen asleep in my arms like this! — Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It’s been a while since she’s fallen asleep in my arms like this!

We didn’t really take any photos of Mirei during the event, but she definitely kept us busy with several trips to the bathroom on her first trip to DC. She had two up-the-backer poops (resulting in two outfit changes) and also spit up all over my shirt! Of course, these things always happen at the most inopportune times. After a very messy afternoon, though, Mirei flashed us her first real smile as we were pushing the strollerÂ through the Metro station on our way home from the event. Dan chuckled, “Awww she’s so cute!” and quickly pulled out the camera and captured the moment:

Mirei smiling — Mirei’s first smile! (Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry…)

It was a very eventful and memorable day for the whole family!

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August 20, 2012 By Misono in Mio, Videos Tags: ã„ã¨ã¾ãã¾ã, children's song, ito maki maki, Japanese, Japanese children's song, Mio, song, thread-winding

Lately, when Mio hears the Japanese children’s song ito maki maki (ã„ã¨ã¾ãã¾ã, or “thread-winding”), she does the winding motion with her hands. She’s starting to catch onto things very quickly these days — I love observing all the new things she’s learning!

Neighborhood Friends

July 24, 2012 By Misono in Family and Friends, Mio Tags: friends, Japanese, Mio, neighborhood

Mio has made some more friends in the neighborhood lately, and they are so cute together! The moms are Japanese and talk to their kids in Japanese, so it’s great for Mio to get more exposure to the language, too.