Mio is quite the little performer these days! Every day she entertains us and makes us smile and laugh with all her dancing, singing, acting, and jokes!
Dancing with her wand
Twirls and spins
She loves being a “princess”
It was only a matter of time before she fell in love with Frozen…
A distracted alphabet song performance…
Let’s try this again…
Looking very 80s with this frazzled look… a result of her recent obsession with headbands.
She also likes to sing Japanese songs… though she doesn’t always get the lyrics right…
I helped her out a little the second time. 😉
Singing 「ã¨ã‚“ã¼ã®ã‚ãŒãã€
Encore!
She likes to shout, “tongue’s blue!” and show her tongue after eating blue popsicles, lollipops, etc…
She wanted me to join in this selfie.
Mio selfies: Smiles one moment, mean-muggin’ the next.
Mio’s funny video message to Grandma and Auntie Miwa who were in Japan at the time:
HUGE smiles when I made her her favorite California rolls for lunch. (Note the Mirei photobomb!)
Mio was playing with my socks here. She took of my sock and her sock, and switched them so that she put her sock on my foot, and my sock on her foot… silly girl.
Wearing a crab hat from a Japanese restaurant:
Pretending to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are: “Be still!”
Ready to star in “Singing in the Rain”!
Playing make-believe with her Minnie Mouse(s):
Donning her kitty earmuffs and a table runner as a shawl.
Climbing up on the changing table and pretending it’s her “new bed.”
Wild child!
Making a “diamond” with a DVD case:
“Orange tongue!” edition
Mustached Mio
It’s really a joy to see Mio’s personality coming out more and more every day.
We got to be a part of our dear friends Mimi and Alden’s wedding celebration when they tied the knot on September 28th! The wedding was held at Early Mountain Vineyards near Charlottesville, and it was a gorgeous place for a beautiful ceremony and reception to celebrate the couple. We had a lovely time — Congratulations, Mimi and Alden!
Mimi looking stunning coming down the aisle.
Beautiful ceremony at Early Mountain Vineyards
Korean style ceremony
Lovely wedding cake!
Loved the adorable cake toppers!
A video of their bridal party’s grand entrance at the reception:
Last weekend was the last one of the summer, and the weather was beautiful so we spent our Saturday at Clemyjontri Park with our friends Pat, Theo, and their little girls Anna and Cara. We each brought food and picnicked on the grass and let our kids run around on the playground and ride the carousel. We always love seeing them, and we had a great time catching up!
On the carousel at Clemyjontri Park
Cara is now one and a half! She’s grown so much!
As usual, Mio was a blur running and climbing all over the park!
Mirei fell asleep being held by Daddy. Dan is tired too from Mirei’s heavy weight!
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!
This summer, in addition to ballet class and gymnastics class, I enrolled Mio in a program called Variety Zone, in which she can sample a little bit of each of the children’s programs offered in the county. In this class, the children rotate through different programs, experiencing two days each of Preschool Picassos, Gym Jam, Magic Kitchen, Wild about the Wild and Adventures in Gardening, over the course of eight weeks (one day a week).
Here are some photos and videos I took of Mio at the classes over the past couple months.
Making glitter fireworks for 4th of July for Preschool Picassos.
Adventures in Gardening class
Planting peas, garlic, and a sunflower.
Learning about the growth cycle of apple trees in Adventures in Gardening
Shaking up the whipping cream in Magic Kitchen. I think Magic Kitchen was Mio’s favorite among the programs, because it involved eating the creations. 😉
A video of Mio shaking the whipped cream, chopping up the fruits, and eating the completed snack.
Making marshmallow spiders!
Look at that smile! (Magic Kitchen, week 2)
Making girl and boy cookies out of crumbled graham crackers, cheese, pretzels, and raisins.
Gym Jam! It was also a hit with Mio, since she loves bouncing around and being active.
Our little athlete had a great time!
The program was a really fun way for Mio to sample a variety of fun activities over the summer, and she was always excited every week to go to the class! (I think she had more fun with it than gymnastics and ballet.) I really recommend it as a nice way to keep the kids occupied, especially during the summer when they’re out of school.
A bonus video of Mio from one of her last ballet classes:
