Dol - Korean 1st Year Birthday Party

Yesterday we flew to LA for a week of vacation - your grandparents in LA planned a big 1 year birthday party for you. Luckily, your other set of grandparents also drove to LA from Arizona to see you. Your Grandma Shin was very excited that we decided to go to LA so that she could plan this special party for you. The night before the party, Hal-mo-ni brought your hanbok to our hotel so you could try it on to see if it fit correctly and if it needed to be shortened.
Here's another cute photo of Mommy and Sophia.
For Korean babies, the 1st year birthday is a big deal. . .let me explain why. In the past, due to a lack of medical information, general state of poverty and many childhood related diseases, the mortality rate for children in Korea was extremely high. Newborns were treated with extra care in an effort to preserve their lives. This generally included not having outside visitors for the first 21 days of the baby’s life. In addition, it also became customary for families to wait until the 100th day to officially celebrate the birth of a new child with a ‘baek il’ or 100th Day Party. (If you look back in the archives, there is a posting in April 2005 for your 100th day.)

The next milestone in the life of a Korean baby is the first birthday. Many children died before their first birthday; however, after the age of one year, the survival rate steeply increased which made this milestone a very happy one for the child’s parents. As a result, the first birthday deserved special observance with elaborate preparations and events.
It is traditional for Koreans to celebrate the first birthday with a big party with family and friends called a ‘dol.’ Your Grandma Shin reserved a large private room at a Korean restaurant called Yong Su San which serves palace-style Korean food (basically what the kings in Korea used to eat). There are many small courses of food served throughout the evening.
You wore a traditional Korean dress called a ‘han bok’ and were seated before a special table that was piled high with traditional festive foods in colorful dishes. Some of the dishes included rice cakes, noodles, and a variety of fruits which all have special significance.
After dinner, the key event of your dol party is called the ‘dol-ja-bee.’ Ten objects were placed in front of you to see which one you would pick up first as a way to predict your future.
• Thread to symbolize long life
• Pencil/Ballpen as a sign for strong academics
• Book to also represent future academic greatness
• Money ($20 bill) to symbolize wealth
• Rice to represent prosperity
• Golfball to symbolize athletics
• Computer mouse as a symbol for science and engineering
• Crayon to symbolize an artistic or creative life
• Bible to represent a spiritual life
• Calculator as a symbol for financial acumen

Before dinner, everyone filled out a sheet of paper to guess what you would pick up first. Daddy guessed money and Mommy guessed ballpen; however, both of us were wrong! You selected the crayon not ONCE but TWICE. A few aunts and uncles wanted you to select the money and the book, but you went straight for the crayon and put it in your mouth. When I took the crayon away from you, you reached to grab another crayon. So now you are supposed to grow up and be very creative and artistic.
Afterwards, we sang Happy Birthday and helped you blow out a big 1 candle. Your aunt Carrie brought a beautiful birthday cake that we all enjoyed.

Other traditional good-luck foods such as red bean cakes and steamed rice cakes were also passed around to the tables and were also wrapped up in to-go packages as a means of invoking blessings for your good health and good fortune.
Here's some video of the Dol.


Don’t worry – the next traditional Korean birthday celebration is not until you turn 60 years old! PHEW!