Nine months, nine onesies.

Last month when I was writing about what Kio had been up to, I mentioned that I was worried about not having any exciting stories to tell. Then the egg allergy incident happened and there was all sorts of excitement.

You truly should be careful what you wish for.

This month I am happy to report that our lives have been drama free and Kio has spent most of his time bathing us in cuteness and his lunch.

Last summer while we were in Canada, Kio spent a great deal of time poking his tongue out and blowing raspberries with his Grandpa Gary. At the time it was pretty high up there on the adorable scale, unfortunately the trick has taken a new turn.

Each morning I'm woken by raspberry fueled smiles and strangers on the train get their fair share as well. Raspberries are blown during playtime and nap time and meal time...

Green beans anyone?

During his rare breaks from raspberry madness, Kio spends a most of his time in motion.

Unconcerned about the presence of music, or the toy that he happens to be holding, when the urge to dance comes upon him, Kio gives it his all! There is arm waving, head shaking, feet kicking and toys flying - basically the boy is a dancing fool.

You'd think that all of that dancing would leave him exhausted and ready for nap time. Not our Kio.

Once the raspberries have been blown, and the dance has been danced, it's time for crawling practice.

Before you get all excited, I have to say that he still hasn't mastered his crawl and for the most part his efforts end in teary frustration. But I'm thinking that he's going to figure it out any day now, then Hirano household will assume a whole new state of chaos.

So far, this is what he's got:

Arms out in front.

Bum in the air.

Aaaannnddd...

Backward motion only.

That's usually when he starts to cry or gives up and rolls to his destination. Like I said, any day now.

Kio's nine month birthday coincided with our second wedding anniversary. Last year Shin and I began the practice of giving each other gifts from the traditional anniversary gift list - second anniversary is cotton. We are neither in the market for sheets or towels, and with Christmas and birthdays just around the corner I was rather hesitant to buy clothes. As such, I was kind of at a loss for a gift idea.

A couple of days before, I was looking for a button to sew on one of Shin's shirts (awww domestic bliss), and I came across the material swatches from the suit that he had made for our wedding. Digging a little further, I found the swatches from my wedding dress. A quick trip to the craft store and I had our anniversary give sorted - his and hers wedding outfit key chains. The perfect 'cotton' gift for people that have just bought a car!

Yes I know, neither outfit was actually made of cotton. Whatever. It's the gesture that counts here people.

On the 11th we went to Nara Park for a picnic. It was freezing cold so we ate most of the food in the car on the way home. Kio was well impressed with the deer (me not so much), and a kind woman gave us her extra ticket to the Nara National Museum's special exhibit, which was both warm and impressive.

All in all, it was a nice family oriented anniversary.

Although it was quite late when we got home, there was one more thing to do and that was to have Kio model his nine month onesie.

This month's onesie and letter were done by our good friend Autumn. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend my baby shower (a job interview certainly takes precedence) but she did send along a totally awesome robot onesie and a dragon labour bead.

I tried for ages to get a picture of Kio AND the back of the shirt, this was the best that I could come up with and thus it needs a little explanation. It's a lightening bolt and at the top it says, 'The Bean'.

Love it!