Personal Photo Book of Childhood Growth — “Arata Life (Age 2)”

Mirei is now 2 months and 6 days old, and although Arata is already close to turning four, I finally finished creating his age-two photo book, Arata Life (2 Years Old). At this age, his will to move and act on his own was beginning to take shape, and the emotions he couldn’t yet express with words came through so directly in his expressions and behavior — it was deeply moving to rediscover those moments through the photos.

During production, the photo-book album feature in the Mac Photos app suddenly stopped working, and I was forced to switch to an overseas service called MIMEO, which turned out to be more troublesome than expected. I even had to create Japanese text in Keynote, capture it as images, and insert it manually into the layout.

The more I make these books, the further behind I seem to fall — but I still hope to continue at least until Mirei turns three. Above all, I’m filled with gratitude that both children are growing up safely and soundly.