𓂃 𓈒𓏸 Usually the oldest person in the room during the ceremony is the one to "feed"  the infant with chopsticks. in our case, it was my mother!

I bought ceramic dishes especially for her ceremony. The dishes were lightweight, yellow and adorable formal pattern. Perfect dishware set for her first meal.

So the basic menu for the Okuizome is one soup, three sides,  a smooth teething stone (This small stone is picked from a shrine and given to an infant to let them teethe on it) and a whole sea bream. This combination is called an iwai-zen (“celebration meal”). My mom touched the food with the tip of the chopsticks and rubbed it gently on Moemi's gums so she still got to taste the food. I was quite flattered as it seemed she really enjoyed the taste! I printed out the menu and the meaning of the celebration for the guests to read. 

 Then again, she may have been excited to try something different considering she's only been breastfed up until then.

We invited just a few friends to her ceremony- in order to socially distance and Moemi was able to receive very wonderful gifts! 

"There is also an element of the desire to continue on traditions, preventing them from dying out."- goinjapanesque