Summer passed by all too quickly this year, and I have been really awful at keeping this space updated in the past several weeks. I thought I’d do a little compilation post of photos and videos here of some of our favorite cute/humorous moments captured on camera to share… better late than never, right?
…and thus follows the photo dump of all photo dumps.
Pooltime on the porch.
“Pool boy! Another margarita, please.”
“Just kidding!” 😉
Mio’s been obsessed with TMNT lately (or as she calls them, “masked turtles”). Today she’s Raphael and Mirei’s been anointed as Leonardo. (To me, they look more matsuri-ready…)
Mio patiently waiting for lunch at Santini’s. One of those moments where she still looks like a baby to me.
Lunch out with Daddy… one of her favorite moments.
Gelato and bingsoo at Sweetberry
Sticker-happy after a visit to Trader Joes.
All it takes is a blanket to keep them giggling non-stop!
Mio in her new bed!
Mio lined up these little animal dolls around Mirei as she slept on the Boppy.
Mirei’s first playdate with Lily. Mirei’s always tagging along to playdates for big sister, so it was nice to have a playdate for Mirei for once!
Mio pretending to kick Mirei… tsk tsk. Sisters…
Not sure what is going on here, but it looks like Mio is attempting to lick Mirei’s back?!
Mirei carrying big sister’s Minion backpack… which is almost the same size as her.
Such a funny sight!
Sisters both napping, in similar positions but in different places. (Mio fell asleep where she was playing, as usual…)
Mirei making an interesting fashion statement… (she can thank Auntie Miwa)
Crawling everywhere!
Sweet Mio
Our little angel ♥
She loves to roll herself up in her blankets.
Silly girl ♥
Mirei pulling herself up to stand by the cooler.
Mio playing frisbee with Daddy and Auntie in the backyard.
Mio coming down the slide at Meadow Lane Park
Sleeping giant at the park.
Mio riding the roundabout at the park:
Mirei being held by Obaachan
7 month old Mirei
Mio painting on the porch
Caught red-handed, getting into the diapers and making a mess!
Looking a lot like Daddy!
Going to the Lee District spray park again on Labor Day.Â
with my sweet M&Ms.
Mirei with Daddy
Mio is very much into making faces in selfies lately. She looks very fierce here!
Kissy-face selfie.
Mio likes to be in a “towel burrito,” as she calls it, after bathtime.
M&M in the window.
Standing in the crib already!
Our first time going to Japanese Storytime – wish I’d known about it sooner! Mirei was actually quite the social butterfly, constantly crawling away to other babies, making new friends. Mio preferred keeping to herself and exploring all the books there.
An ecstatic Mio with her mango popsicle.
Our resident flappy-bird…
Mirei playing with a taiko toy at a birthday party.
Spending a Sunday at the park
Stay forever Sunday.
Mirei will pull herself up to standing position every opportunity she gets!
Earlier this month, we got some hinamatsuri/early shichi-go-san photos taken by Atelier Kanawa at The Japan-America Society of Washington DC.
From Wikipedia: Shichi-Go-San is a Japanese celebration of the passage of children into the older years of childhood. The ages 3, 5 and 7 are considered lucky numbers in East Asian numerology, as they are odd numbers. In the tradition, boys who are aged three or five and girls who are aged three or seven are dressed in kimono — many for the first time — for visits to shrines. Three-year-old girls usually wear hifu (a type of padded vest) with their kimono. A more modern practice is photography, and this day is well known as a day to take pictures of children.
Shichi-Go-San is held in mid-November (usually on the 15th and observed on the nearest weekend), but I figured that I’d kill two birds with one stone by getting some early (or late, if you go by the traditional kazoedoshi or age reckoning) Shichi-Go-San pictures taken during this Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day) photo session opportunity, since the kimono garb is exactly the same for both occasions.
With hina-ningyo for Hinamatsuri
Posing with a Chitose-Ame bag as is the tradition with Shichi-Go-San.
As you can see from a lot of these photos, the photographer had a hard time getting Mio to smile. She asked for Dan and I to help get a smile out of her, so we asked her what flavor of ice cream she wanted, and that did the trick:
Mio’s answer: “CHOCOLATE!” Unfortunately, she broke out of her pose…
Love our little Japanese doll!
Some behind-the-scenes snapshots I took with my phone:
The original photos we received from the photoshoot came back very yellow due to the lighting, so Dan had to do some color correcting to return them to a more accurate color (which is what you see above), but we’re pretty pleased with the end result. I myself never had the opportunity to wear a kimono as a child, let alone have photos taken in one, so I’m really happy that we could do this for Mio. I can’t wait to send these over to Mio’s great-grandparents and other relatives in Japan! 🙂
Earlier this month when Mio had just turned one, we asked the very talented and lovely Tea Ho of Dreambox Photography to take some photographs of Mio and the three of us together as a family. Although we were at first on the fence about whether or not we should get professional photographs taken again (as my income is not as regular anymore), we’re so glad that we did because this is her first birthday and she won’t be this toddling, chubby-cheeked baby for much longer. And of course, one look at the gorgeous photographs that Tea captured and we knew we’d made the right decision!
Tea recommended that we shoot at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek, and it was the perfect location, with its flower meadows, cute little bridges and a gazebo, and rustic paths. We were pleasantly surprised to even find a few cherry blossom trees that were in full bloom!
This was also a momentous occasion as it was the first time that I successfully convinced Dan to wear pink. That’s right, this is first time Dan has worn pink in his lifetime of 29 years! All these years, he never obliged when I asked him to, but this time I told him to do it for Mio, to better match with her, and he gave in. The things Daddies do for their daughters! (Maybe I should use the “Do it for Mio” reasoning more often… ;))
Side story: There’s a favorite photograph I have of my mother and I in a field, when I must have been just around Mio’s age or perhaps younger. I have a beaming smile on my face, and my mother is stooped down beside me, supporting me with her arms and looking at me lovingly. I’ve always wanted to recreate this photograph, and Tea did a wonderful job of doing just that! You can see the original photo and the new one with Mio and I, below…
My mother and I, circa 1983
Thank you Tea for once again working her magic to produce these lovely photographs. We’ll treasure them in our family for years to come!
I was just reflecting on the amazing baby shower that our West Coast friends threw us exactly a year ago on March 12 of 2011, and I realized that I had never shared the beautiful photographs that our friend Tea of Dreambox Photography took at the shower for our memory books. As usual, her photos are gorgeous and captured the day beautifully! I was floored by how extravagant a shower our friends Megumi & company threw for us, and continue to be moved by it every time I look at these pictures!
Many of our friends have asked where we’ve gotten some of our portrait and newborn photographs taken, saying how much they love the dreamy, ethereal, and slightly vintage look to the pictures. If you’re ever looking to get photographs taken for any occasion, whether it be a wedding, engagement, portraits or family pictures, Dreambox Photography comes with our highest recommendation!
I just received these photos from our baby shower back in Virginia from December — they were taken by our talented friend Vinci! Looking through the photos brings a huge smile to my face; we really loved seeing everyone again and it meant so much to us that we got to celebrate with them during our short visit back East. We’re so blessed, and we will remember it forever.
I love seeing the smiles and laughter on everyone’s faces in these pictures — they speak millions. ♥ Thank you for taking these, Vinci!
