As you know, tonight we attended Chung Sung Woon’s first birthday party. We had such a wonderful and exciting time being part of this very special celebration. Let me just begin by saying, we failed our kids miserably with their first birthday. We thought we were really doing it up with their Baby Einstein birthday cake and large guest list, but clearly we were mistaken. This little guy’s birthday was truly over the top and amazing! I’ve been to weddings that were comparable to this party. No kidding! There was a cake that resembled a wedding cake, two tons of food, lots of very happy guests, a magician, even a professional photographer (no, not me)! I’ve never been to any birthday like it, and hope that Ella and Sterling will forgive us for not providing them with such a first birthday party. We plead ignorance…we simply had no idea how extravagant first birthday’s are here. Watch a clip of this exciting party at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7zC9GsJ2ck
The birthday boy, Sung Woon, and his very proud parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chung. Aren’t their family hanboks just beautiful?
On display at the party were first birthday pictures of Sung Woon. I thought this picture with his big brother Seong Bin was just too, too cute!
Another first birthday picture on display…is this not just one of the cutest little guys you’ve ever laid eyes on?
Of course, what over the top birthday celebration would be complete with out enough food to feed a small country? There were all sorts of delicious traditional Korean dishes to try…I had to go back for a second plate just to make sure I’d “sampled” everything! Amongst the serving dishes were these precious little food sculptures. This one is a pumpkin carved to look like a group of turtles lounging on the beach.
This picture just cracked me up. As you can see, Sterling certainly stole the show. All eyes were on him while he ran around laughing and squealing.
Ella had a lot to say to Mrs. Chung.
I’m usually the one behind the camera, so I’m always so excited when I actually get to be in a picture with one of my children!
Us.
I can't help but think this picture reminds me a lot of the picture we took at the Chi's wedding last July. My how they grow...
It’s a Korean tradition to offer the birthday baby a platter filled with a variety of objects to signify which direction his life will lead. The platter will hold things like a plush hammer, a ball, money, a doctor’s stethoscope, a pencil, etc. Each object has a meaning behind it. Sung Woon’s mother said she was hoping her son would pick up the doctor’s stethoscope, signifying that he would grow up to be a man of medicine. Alas, this little guy picked up the ball, much to his mother’s chagrin..and a lot of laughs from his father. Watch Sung Woon partaking in this traditional birthday game at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjS7xBmK64
Eun Ji (Mrs. Yu’s daughter) was standing with me during the cake cutting ceremony and toast. She asked me if this was how we celebrate first birthdays in the states. Um, no…we generally reserve cakes like this for weddings.
Big brother Seong Bin helped to cut his little brother’s cake...with a sword! You have to look closely at the picture to see him standing in front of his Daddy with the most excited little grin on his face. Watch everyone singing happy birthday in Hangul at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkfS_4tw0Kw
Chingu is friend in Hangul. We actually took 2 pictures with the Chungs. The second one was probably a slightly better picture, as all the adults were looking towards the camera; but this picture was so funny, I just had to share. You’ll notice each child was completely unaware, and very involved in "talking" to each other. I just love how animated this picture is.
I hope you enjoy all of our pictures and stories from the birthday party we attended this evening!
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