We had our little girl’s first birthday party today. Kind of.
She woke up feeling cranky, and that isn’t really like her. Her eyes were a little puffy and she was slightly warm. Our poor little girl just wasn’t feeling her best.
Still, after some playing and some resting she was in a good enough mood that we decided to do what we could.
We dressed her up in her kimono-style onesie (it snaps on and is adorable!) and went with a traditional Japanese activity for the first birthday.
Large blocks of mochi (pounded rice cakes) are tied to her back and she tries to get up. The idea is that the mochi is heavy enough that the baby shouldn’t be able to take more than a few steps at best before falling down. Our little girl isn’t waking they and can barely stand for more than a few quick seconds, so she fell on her bottom pretty quick: I’ve heard two different reasons why this is done. My wife isn’t sure if there is a set reason or if different areas just have slight twists on the custom.
The first explanation we heard is that this is done to show them that the need to keep going even if things are hard. Kind of like a way of making them stronger.
The one we heard more recently is that the weight represents all the blessing they will have and the hope is that their life will be full of abundance.
It could be one or both of these. But it is a really cute scene.
I’ll likely post more pictures tomorrow or the special baby food meal my wife prepared. All the really nice pictures are in her camera. For now, please make due with a photo of our little girl.
Deadly Troubadour 