Another Birthday Celebration … Korean Style

We had a second birthday celebration for our youngest granddaughter, Delaney.

Delaney’s other grandmother is Korean.

She told us first birthdays are a very big deal in Korea. They are huge, some as big as weddings. It’s a longstanding tradition. Due to their high infant mortality rate, people celebrated wildly with overwhelming joy as their babies reached their first birthday. By American standards, the party is way over the top!

Thus, she asked Delaney’s parents if they approved her planning a Korean first birthday party. They did, of course, and we all celebrated again at “Halmony’s” house. (Korean for grandma.)

I just had to share because of its unique cultural experience.

First, I have to show off our little Korean Princess ….

Of my goodness, can you EVEN!?!?

They purchased a traditional Hanbok dress. All the accessories are traditional to the outfit! Oh, my … my heart melts!

By the way, it saddens my heart that we cannot show her beautiful face. I have been enlightened as to how people are using child photos on line. It’s sad and sick and beyond anything I could conceive, but because it is real, we don’t want to give twisted minds and hearts the chance of using our children’s photos. It’s truly so sad!

She did not wear the dress the whole party. It was restrictive for her. Which I think made her quieter and stiller, much more than normal, adding to her royal demeanor.

“Halmony” made a banquet of Korean food for the celebration … yummy! I’ve had some of it before and liked it all. My favorite is Chop Chae!

With a delightful sesame flavor, it’s comprised of sweet potato noodles, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, small chopped onions, carrot, and bell pepper. It’s delicious! It resembles a pasta salad. You can eat it cold or warm. I like it both ways.

In Korean culture, a prediction about the future accompanies the first birthday. A tray of objects is presented to the child. Whichever two objects the child chooses predicts what their future looks like. Of course, it’s just a tradition but interesting! In the current day, parents assign their own meaning to the objects.

Here are the objects and the manufacturers’ meanings that Delaney chose from.

Halmony decided the coin purse would mean wealth instead of luck, which could be a similar meaning. Also, the yarn ball represented a long life to Halmony.

Delaney sat and looked and looked at the tray. They finally moved it closer and her Mom said, “You can have one.” She slowly chose the coin purse. She touched it once and then pulled away. Eventually, she picked it up and, like every teething one-year-old, chewed on the strings!

They offered the tray again, and she chose the ball, which means athletic. Her future has already been proven to include height. Her length puts her in the 99%. At one, she stands at a height of 33″ tall. She was born in the ninetieth percentile. Her Dad is 6’2”. Her Mom is 5’10”. She has several uncles over 6’ and one is 6’ 7”. I think athletics could very well be in her future. Her Mom played tennis through college and still does, which was ironic that it was a tennis ball.

She got a second smash cake and ate a little more than her first. The strawberry buttercream icing which was De-licious!! She approached the “cake smash” with a very gentile demeanor. She is not always meek and mild. In fact, I would call her “spunky” which I love, by the way!