A Very Hungry Birthday!

I love Eric Carle books. How can you not love an author that incorporates counting, healthy eating and an explanation of metamorphosis into a book about the most adorable caterpillar of all time?

Obviously, Kio loves his books too. And of course his favourite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

No brainwashing going on here at all.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has 'wormed' his way into several areas of our lives. We read the book on a regular basis - Kio loves to stick his fingers in the holes on each page. There was also our dear friend Mushi-san, who accompanied us pretty much everywhere until his recent demise. And there is Kio's 'nursery'.

When I was pregnant and in full-on nesting mode, I was so sad that it wasn't possible to do up a nursery for the little Bean. As our apartment is rented and redecorating is strictly forbidden, I had to settle with a cute crib set and a few bits that I picked up from IKEA. On top of that, we had set-up everything for him in our bedroom, so space was more than limited. Then one afternoon while I was killing time before meeting a friend for lunch, (back in the days when I was actually on time, even early for things) I came across a Very Hungry Caterpillar wall sticker set. With no offence intended to said friend, I remember absolutely dying to get home and 'decorate' the nursery.

It isn't much but it's pretty cute, and recently Kio has taken a real interest in the dots; pushing them like they are giant buttons.

As an aside, if anyone ever tries to tell you that non-adhesive wall stickers are repositionable or that they will withstand the humidity of Japanese summer - They. Are. Liars! I've had to put double-sided tape on all of them. Fingers crossed that the wallpaper survives when I decide to take them down.

So yes. We like the Very Hungry Caterpillar (VHC).

As such, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I went with a VHC theme for Kio's first birthday.

I would like to say that I was full of creative, one-of-a-kind ideas for Kio's party but it took all of a five second Google search for me to come up with (aka steal) these little numbers for the big day.

Like the invitation with VHC as the 'n' in one.

  

Or the VHC cupcake cake.

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the layout of the cupcakes. I decided that I would not be able to put them out from the beginning of the party because the buttercream icing would melt. But when it came time to set it up, Kio was tired and a bit clingy and wouldn't let anyone but mommy hold him. Obviously, I had done a practice run and knew exactly where each cupcake should go (OCD much?) but Shin had to set it up freehand. There will certainly be a map to follow next time.

I'll leave it up to you to decide if I'm joking or not...

Not being overly crafty, and extremely short on free time these days, I decided that I wasn't going to make the decorations. Besides, back in November I found a VHC Happy Birthday poster at one of the local import shops so decorations had been taken care of long ago.

One afternoon I was sharing 'my' party ideas with the Sugar Fairy (who sadly would not be able to make it to the party with her Sugar Family, because they would be in Hawaii - sad for us anyway) and I told her about some VHC inspired cookies that I had seen during my Internet searches. I mentioned that I would love to make them, but between work, and lack of talent there was pretty much no chance that I would take on the project.

You have to be careful what you say to that woman!

A few days before she left for Hawaii these arrived at my house - complete with little holes and all!

Thank you Sugar Fairy, you are the best!

Seriously, you are freakin' awesome.

So we had VHC cupcakes, cookies, decorations and finally there was Kio's 'smash cake'. 

I had seen pictures of babies desecrating their birthday cakes online; they were so adorable and I wanted to give Kio the chance to take a swing at his. Plus, his egg allergy meant that he would need a separate cake anyway. So the final addition to Kio's Very Hungry Birthday was decided.

On the day I think that Kio was a bit overwhelmed. As I mentioned before, he was clinging to me pretty fiercely and was crying more than usual. I think that is possibly why he didn't go to town on his cake. I was expecting a massacre but he poked at it a bit and seemed pleased to leave it at that.

After his cake, Kio took a nap. "It's my party, and I'll nap if I want to..." and I think that did the trick. He returned with a vengeance, working the room and chattering away (mostly to himself). And once the presents appeared there was no stopping him!

These are two of my favourite pictures from the party.
 

 A new car!

That box could not be opened fast enough!

Although there weren't many little people present, the big people (from near and far) made the day; spoiling Kio with fabulous gifts and love. What a lucky little dude.

Happy 1st Birthday Kio!

Twelve months, twelve onesies!

With the debut of the twelfth onesie, the lead-up is over and it can (finally) be said that The Bean is one year old!

Of course there was a party, but that deserves a post all of its own. Today I'm here to wrap up a year of onesies.

For those of you who weren't around for the inception of the monthly onesies, or have forgotten because you have lives of your own and don't actually live, breath, sleep The Hirano Family Blog, I shall start with a little history.

On January 14th 2013, a little under a month before I was due to give birth to The Bean, my dear friend Anna threw me a baby shower. It was there that our good friends and family designed the onesies that I have been debuting once a month since Kio was born. Along with their onesie, each person wrote a letter. I have to say that I practiced a great deal of self-restraint by not opening them all at once when I got home from the baby shower. Instead I have been doing my best to read them to Kio one at a time on (or around) the 11th of each month.

The letters are funny, sweet, sentimental and most of them include a small plea for Kio to let his mommy and daddy get some sleep.

Thanks all!

The onesie and letter for Kio's twelfth month was done by yours truly. I couldn't remember what I had written, so I was looking forward to reading it to Kio.  Honestly, it was pretty lackluster. I had forgotten that while I was writing I got really emotional. Of course there were some hormones involved, I was in my ninth month of pregnancy after all. But the thought that I would actually be holding my one year old baby while I was reading my letter got the better of me, and I cut my letter short in order to avoid showering my shower with tears. I didn't even sign it. Perhaps I had planned to go back and finish it up once I got home, I don't actually remember. It was lovely to read, but obviously not finished, however that didn't stop me from shedding a tear or two this time around as well. 

In honour of all the sentiment, creativity and love that people put into their letters and onesies I think that a bit of a fashion show is in order!

One Month Old

Letter and year of the snake 1 onesie by Anna (aka The Sugar Fairy).

Kio had already outgrown the newborn size onesies while he was still a newborn! So for the first few months he went with the 'draped-look'.

Two Months Old

Letter and transportation inspired 2 onesie by Donna.

Love those squishy thighs!

Three Months Old

Letter by daddy and classic stitched 3 onesie by Anna.

Look at that pudgy baby, love it!

Four Months Old

Letter and yacht party (cocktails and all) 4 onesie by Jane.

 I think that Kio looks more like the little boy that he is today in this picture.
 AND he's finally able to model his onesie...barely.

Five Months Old
Letter and star burst 5 onesie by auntie Miki.

 As you may notice, this is not a onesie photo. We were in Canada when Kio turned five months old and I had totally planned to bring it with us but, in the whirlwind of last minute packing, I forgot. This picture was taken the first time Kio went swimming in the week of his five month birthday and is too funny not to show one more time.

Six Months Old
Letter by Mel (in Australia) and sweet 6 cupcake onesie by Anna.

Look at that hair!


Seven Months Old
Letter and panda with hand-drawn accents 7 onesie by cousin Sara.

The first onesie shot with Kio sitting on his own.

Eight Months Old
Letter and groovy 8 onesie by Midori.

Mugging for the camera and showing off his first haircut courtesy of mommy.
Note that the onesie is not fastened at the bottom - he grew out of them again.

Nine Months Old
Letter and lightening bolt robot onesie by Autumn.

 Unfortunately, Autumn had a job interview on the day of my shower but that didn't stop her from sending along this fabulous little number!

Ten Months Old
Letter and onesie from the panda collection by grandma Hirano.

By this point Kio had become a wiggly little worm, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get a photo of him that did the onesie justice.

Eleven Months Old
Letter and glam bike 11 onesie inspiration from Becca (in England), onesie design carried out by Anna.

 Kio was instantly enthralled by the sequins on this onesie and did his best to pick them off.

Twelve Months Old!
Letter and crayon coloured 12 onseie by Mommy.

Wowza! Look at that belly (and boobs)!

Wait for it...

Any moment now...

Obviously someone was far more interested in stealing my phone than having his picture taken.

With a tickle and a kiss!

Here he is!

And yes, he needs another haircut.

At twelve months Kio is a going concern. He is into everything! He is cruising around the furniture and climbing as high as he can go, earning the moniker Danger Baby. He has dropped his crazy high leg march and I believe that any day now he'll be off and running - well walking anyway.

Onesie number twelve brings us to the end of an era. Each month as I dressed Kio in his one-of-a-kind creation, I stopped to write about the new things that he had been doing and how much he had grown. It is so cool to have a record of it that I can look back on when he is older, and if he chooses, he can check it out too. The thing is, I'd like to continue the updates but, without something motivating me, I think that they may fall by the wayside. As such, I've decided to begin Project Quilt.

At the end of my shower, Anna offered to make me a quilt featuring Kio's onesies. The idea has stuck with me, but rather than pawn the work off on Anna (who is frantically packing up her family for a move to the US), I've decided to take on the task myself.

Of course I could take the easy way out and use my sewing machine. But my grandmother - a prize winning quilter, would turn over in her grave. With no quilting experience to fall back on, I figure that a year to complete the project is realistic...? Hopefully making it a present for Kio's second birthday. So there's my motivation to check-in monthly with an update on both the progress of my quilt and how The Bean is continuing to sprout!

 

The Demise of 虫さん (Mushi-san)

So Kio's first birthday is quickly approaching.

Anyone tired of hearing me say that yet?

He was born on 建国記念の日 (National Foundation Day - the day celebrating the foundation of Japan and the accession of its first Emperor) which is a public holiday. Nice planning on Kio's part, arriving a week early - he'll always have a day off on his birthday!

We have decided to take advantage of friends and family being off for the day, and throw Kio a little birthday party. Around the time that Shin and I were talking about invites and decorations, we lost a very important member of our family.

Literally we lost him.

Poor, poor Mushi-san.

Mushi-san joined us last May and was one of the presents we bought Kio for Children's Day. On that occasion Shin picked out some new duds for Kio and I bought him a copy of one of my all time favourite children's books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Mushi-san.

Mushi-san is the Swiss Army Knife of stroller toys. He comes equipped with everything a baby on the go needs: a teether, crinkle material, a handle for when the urge to wildly shake things takes over, and of course a mirror. The mirror is especially important to Kio as he just can't get enough of himself - a wee narcissist in the making. And to make it even better, Mushi-san is all of those fabulous features wrapped together with the cuteness of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Aww, so cute. And he was Kio's bestest friend.

I'm not sure at what point we stopped calling him The Hungry Caterpillar, and started calling him Mushi-san (Japanese for Mr. Bug) but the affectionate nickname obviously denotes his importance to the family. 

He went everywhere with Kio and kept him happily occupied on afternoons out at the shops, dreaded car rides (that was before Kio decided that being in the car isn't a form of torture), and he even made it all the way to Canada - and back! 

Although Kio has other stroller toys, he faithfully went for Mushi-san every time. So much so, that he sucked off all of the silver from the material on the antennae, and no matter how many times I cleaned him, Mushi-san had become pretty nasty looking.

After all of Mushi-san's adventures out and about with Kio, one day he didn't make it home. We don't know if he was knocked off while we were loading the stroller into the car. Or maybe he got hooked on something as we were cruising around town. Either way, Mushi-san is no longer with us. 

So in memory of good ole' Mushi-san, we've decided on a Hungry Caterpillar theme for Kio's birthday party. 

Only six days to go! 

Mushi-san and Kio, keeping cool in the summer heat.

Mushi-san and Kio, on the flight to Korea.

Mushi-san and Kio, hat modeling.

We wish you all the best Mushi-san, wherever you may be - you are missed.