Having been engulfed with a big project, I'm sort of surprised to see the week has evaporated and that it's been so long since my previous post. I'm back to reality because Anthony turned 8 yesterday....
Adding it to the present (LEGO™) from his Aunt Namiko and Uncle Shogo (who got married three weeks ago), the result was a triple-crown of LEGO™ birthday joy...
Before eating I took a snapshot of the group...
Namiko and Shogo brought the “HAPPY” used at their wedding reception to add to the festive décor.
Oddly, Anthony wasn't particularly hungry and so soon excused himself to actually start playing with the presents....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — full exif
this is his real “H A P P Y”
Eventually it was time for cake, which Fumie had decorated with a running Star Wars® clone trooper...
He'd been complaining that he was full (and so shouldn't bother with the cake, but instead keep playing with his presents), but we insisted, and as we were preparing it, he commented mostly to himself “wow, just looking at it makes me feel hungry”. Duh!
I usually try to get a shot like this, though there's less emphasis as he gets older, and for the last couple of years I've not put much thought or preparation into it, preferring to enjoy the moment rather than photograph it. Here are the comparable shots from when he turned 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Then it was back to the LEGO, in a scene we've seen quite often in our house:
He kept saying that it was the best birthday ever, without even knowing that my folks had sent a present that we were holding back to give him something to open the next day....
Otanjobi omedeto gozaimasu, 🙂
Happy Birthday Anthony!!!
Best wishes and I hope that this next year is a joyous one for you.
Monet’s Dad
Happy Birthday from Switzerland 🙂
Greats Michi
Hi Jeffrey,
Loving your blog as always… great photos. Especially loved the first birthday cake photo with Anthony… nice light and just the right exposure.
I normally run a visiting Japan site Japanese Ties, but I’m starting another site which is more about our life living in Adelaide, Australia (as an Aussie/Japanese family). Please pop on over – though I’m just starting out – at Raising Adelaide. Not sure how I’ll go running two blogs, but I’m pretty sure I will want to diversify from my current blog (which was largely tracing our family trips back to Japan)… and I like the idea of talking about our lives here. Your blog was a bit of an inspiration for that.
Happy Birthday to Anthony from all the way over in Sydney, Australia 🙂
Seems like the best birthday ever for an 8 year old!!
Very Happy birthday to Anthony!