First birthday cake smash with one-year-old Ace

Ace lives up to his name in every respect: he’s incredibly happy, curious and loving, and his fab parents still can’t believe what a perfectly positive experience they’ve had with him from the start.

He started sleeping through the night when he wasn’t yet six months old, and only cries when he’s tired or hungry. He’s rolling through his milestones, and is already on the move and starting to form his first words.

Dad Justin had been working hard to shape what Ace’s first words would be, with extensive father-and-son ‘training sessions’ involving repetition of the target phrase: ‘Dada’.

This strategy hasn’t paid off yet, however, as Ace surprised everyone by saying ‘mama’ first, albeit just when he wants some milk!

Very sadly, after a year of watching Ace grow up, this may be the last time I see this wonderful family. Their stay here in the UK is coming to an end, and they are very excited about their next move, which will take each of them to different parts of the globe and with opposite climates.

Lumariel will be setting up their home in Hawaii, while Justin has a stint to do in Greenland for his work. When he arrives there, the sky will be dark throughout the day and night. Thankfully the country makes up for this somewhat in summer, with 24-hour light to compensate!

After his time in Greenland, Justin will rejoin the family in Hawaii, where they hope to stay for a few years before hopefully relocating back to their native Japan.

Lumariel is especially looking forward to having regular sunshine and warm days, although she’ll miss the seasonal variation she’s experienced here in the UK.

To this end, they’ve tried to explore as much of the local area as possible in their final few months here, and in the gaps available to them between lockdowns!

They are also very excited about seeing family in Japan over the Christmas period, as not all the grandparents have met little Ace yet, and can hardly wait to do so.

Ace has a cousin in Japan with just a two-month age difference, so there’s no doubt they will enjoy spending time together, too. 🙂

Ace’s parents adore a Japanese anime film called My Neighbour Totoro.

In homage to the film, the family carefully planned a series of images across Ace’s Baby’s First Year photoshoot sessions.

For one of the images at Ace’s Newborn Photoshoot (see the photos here), he was wrapped up in white as the smallest character from My Neighbour Totoro, with a custom hat knitted by his maternal grandmother.

At Ace’s sitter session (see the photos here), he was dressed as the medium-sized character, in another custom knitted hat, but this time in blue.

Now he’s one, Ace is starring as the main character, a giant cuddly cat called Totoro. To signify this, here’s Ace dressed in the character’s colours, with the third and final custom knitted hat:

What a perfect – and personal – way to watch handsome little Ace grow over his first year, from a teeny tiny newborn, to a cheeky, characterful and absolutely Ace baby boy who brings so much delight to everyone he meets. 🙂 

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If you’d like to book your child’s first birthday cake smash photoshoot, or if you have any questions about family photography with me, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning, qualified, professional family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).