The okuizome (お食い初め) ceremony is traditionally carried out on the hundredth day of the baby's life. When we got photos taken at the shrine where we took her studio shots (and, for that matter, where we got married) we got this lacquered dish set to use in this ceremony. We also snagged a rock from the gravel in the shrine yard.
The meal the baby pretends to eat at this point includes sekihan, or rice boiled with red beans; some soup; a bream, a fish often eaten on days of good fortune; and that rock. Sakura actually eats none of this. I carry it to her mouth and this represents our wishes that she will never go hungry. When we did this she was more interested in the chopsticks than anything else on the table.
The meal the baby pretends to eat at this point includes sekihan, or rice boiled with red beans; some soup; a bream, a fish often eaten on days of good fortune; and that rock. Sakura actually eats none of this. I carry it to her mouth and this represents our wishes that she will never go hungry. When we did this she was more interested in the chopsticks than anything else on the table.