Apple Pie: A Recipe

 Shin's favourite dessert is apple pie, so for Father's Day Kio and I whipped one up for him. This is how it went...

Ingredients

- 4 enormous apples costing about $3 each

- 2 pkgs of pie sheets (Making good pie crust is really hard and store bought is delicious. Nuff said.)

- a spoon or 2 of sugar

- a bit of flour plus a bit more

- some cinnamon (Plus a little extra because Shin likes it.)*

- some nutmeg (But not too much, you don't want it to overpower the cinnamon.)**

- 5 to 10 shakes of vanilla oil

- a splash of vegetable oil

Directions

1. Walk three kilometers to a supermarket that sells apples. 

2. Make sure that it is about 35 degrees outside and that your baby wants to be carried. Oh, don't forget to add 80% humidity into the mix.

 

3. Once you finally arrive at the supermarket change poopy diaper.

4. Feed the baby so that he doesn't dehydrate.

5. Drink a bottle of water so that you don't dehydrate.

6. Purchase apples and pie sheets.

7. Take a taxi home.

8. Put the baby down for a nap. Make sure that he refuses to sleep in his crib and once again put him in the baby carrier.

9. Preheat oven to whatever temperature you find when you google "apple pie baking temp".

10. Turn the air conditioner down 2 or 3 degrees, after all you are wearing a baby with the oven on in 35 degree weather.

11. Drink some more water.

12. Peel apples and put in a large bowl.

13. Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to peeled apples.

*Realize that you only have about half the amount of cinnamon that you usually use left in the shaker. Do not go back out into the heat to buy more.

**Ignore above ingredient list and make up for lack of cinnamon with extra nutmeg.

14. Mix well.

15. Make note to self that next time you bake while wearing a baby carrier, make sure to cover it with a towel first.

16. Set apple mixture aside.

18. Grease pie plate with oil being careful not to get any on the baby carrier.

17. Cover baby carrier with a towel.

18. Dust the counter top with flour and roll out pie sheets.

19. Pick dough out of the baby's hair (next time you can cover him as well as the carrier). It is next to impossible to do this without waking the baby up. If you somehow manage to do so, skip steps 20 and 22.

20. Change and feed the baby, place him on his play mat. 

21. Begin assembling the pie.

22. Stop to clean baby vomit off of the play mat.

23. Finish assembling the pie and mark it with a 'D' for daddy.

24. Bake the pie until slightly burnt.

25. Serve along with the rest of the Father's Day feast.

I'm sure that there are easier recipes for apple pie out there, but none of them are made with this much love.

Awwww. 

父の日 (Father's Day)

Dear Daddy:

Thank you so much for the things that you do.

For giving me a bath and drying me too.

 

 

For teaching me about cars and bikes that go fast,

spending time with my daddy is always a blast!

 

 

 

 

For taking me on walks while mommy teaches a class,

and showing me the difference between a carp and a bass.

 

 

 

 

For napping together, such good times we share.

Always making me laugh, with high bounces in the air.

 

 

 

 

You're a busy guy, everyone knows that it's true.

So thank you for everything and happy Father's Day to you! 

 

 

With love, Kio

 

 

Four months, four onsies!

Another month, another onsie, another blog post filled with firsts from baby Kio.

When I say little, it is relatively speaking of course. When he's all snuggled into his crib at night he's so little. When he's splashing around in the bathtub he's so little. When I hold him in my arms and rock him to sleep, he's so little. 

BUT!

When we show up for his four month check-up and he is by far the biggest baby in the room, he stops being so little. When I pack away yet another outfit that he's grown out of, he stops being so little. When he weighs 7.7 kilograms, measures 64 centimeters and has gone up ANOTHER diaper size, he definitely stops being so little! 

That's right, our little pudge has grown twelve centimeters and gained over four kilograms since he was born!

 

My sweet, sleepy little boy.

Like many people on the heftier side of the scale claim "it's all muscle", a lot of Kio's weight is muscle. If you overlook the three chins and Michelin Man physique he's crazy strong. I'm reminded of this each time I have to coax him into his car seat, hold him down for a vaccination or receive an accidental kick while we're playing.

Kio has been putting his muscles to other uses as well, he can now roll from his back to his tummy and over again. As well, he spends part of every morning trashing his play mat. I used to get down on the floor with him but it became too dangerous. I now just observe from a (safe) distance.

A well trashed play mat is a thing of beauty.

 

Kio's first roll - no stopping him after that!

After his morning workout we're generally on the go. Kio attends meetings, does coffee, goes shopping, runs errands and has even lunched at the Ritz. Assigning the grandiose hotel a prize for the poshest changing table in Osaka.

What a busy boy!

He takes it all in stride and generally has a snooze and a poop in each place we visit. This last week he also had his first meltdowns in public. First in the bank -which I feel is totally understandable. I often feel like having a freak out while I'm at the bank. And the second was in a coffee shop while I was bidding my fabulous friend Jane sayonara.

Speaking of Jane, that brings me to Kio's fourth onsie...

 

 

 

Notice anything different? Yes ladies and gents Kio is no longer merely a prop for the one of a kind creation, he's actually wearing it! 

To celebrate his forth month of being, the fabulous Jane created a yacht party for our little guy complete with woodland creatures and cocktails - too fun! 

But alas, there is a dark cloud hovering over their jolly celebration. Not only is today Kio's four month birthday, it's also the day that lady Jane and her husband Shad are leaving Japan. For them it's a day of excitement and nervous anticipation but for those of us that are bidding them adieu it's one of sadness. After living in Japan for twelve years you would think that I'd be a pro at this by now, but as always I'm left wondering what is so 'good' about good-bye?

I've been a little slack updating the Hirano family blog recently, but June and July are going to provide lots of fodder for blogging...