We had a Korean-American birthday party for Becca’s first birthday (held on April 8, 2006). One of the Korean traditions we followed was putting her in traditional dress, called a "han-bok,” given to her by her aunt Ina who had purchased it Korea. We also served a mixture of Korean and American food.
Another tradition that we followed was a forecast of her future. Five objects were placed before her representing the possibilities: a book (scholarship), money (wealth), a pencil (also scholarship), rice (fertility), and thread (long life). Whichever she touched first tells what she will be like. Well, our hungry little girl touched the rice, then made the sign to ask for food, because she realized that she didn't want to eat it uncooked! So now she will have many children in her future. (We are told that in olden days rice also signified money. Both would be good.)
Becca's party was attended by 20-25 people, and she really enjoyed the attention and having so
many kids around. We served two cakes for dessert: a lemon cake and a chocolate cake. Becca had the lemon cake, but it wasn't her first piece ever. She had eaten cake on the day of her birthday, April 2nd, so she already knew she liked it! Becca did have her first ice cream at her party, however. She zealously ate at first, but after a few seconds she began crying. It is debated as to why; to some it was because her hands became too cold and to others, it was her first ice cream headache. We’ll never know.
4 comments:
Did you really set her on that table? She looks like she was cropped in! She is adorable.
Oh, and in response to your comment on our blog...the joke was on us. After all the damage control we had to do to assure people we weren't, 2 weeks later, we got pregnant! he he.
Bethany,
We did set her on the table. It is also a Korean tradition to take a picture of the food with the child seated behind it before everyone digs in. However, usually the food is on a table 12" off the ground, so in this case, she got to sit ON the table. Notice the wide barrier we left in case she tried to reach for anything!
-Laurel
Af first I thought you had a doll sitting on the table with the food. At a second and much closer look I realized it was Becca. :o) So cute you guys...sounds like you had a fun party. Love the blog.
Thanks for the update. Nice pictures and write up. By the way it was your brother Jesse's birthday last Monday. Don't forget about your "other" family. We had no idea that Laurel was pregnant. Congrats on that also. Hope all is going well.
-Adam
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