Connor turned one on November 24th. We didn’t do much to celebrate on the actual birthday because we were preparing for Thanksgiving and attending the Thanksgiving recital at his day care. His birthday party was planned for Saturday. On Thanksgiving evening, Connor got sick. He was a little better but Saturday things took a turn for the worse. He spent the entire day being held by mom. Needless to say, he was not in the mood to party. Rather than cancel the party, we filled a prescription for antibiotics and hoped for a recovery. We had many guests from out of town and didn’t know when we’d reschedule. Many of Connor’s family and friends came to watch him eat cake and open gifts. Instead they watched Connor lie listlessly on my chest. He did rally for a bit. Just in time to celebrate the Korean tradition of Toljabee. I don’t know much about the origins of this tradition but every kid in Thomas’s mom’s family has put on the Korean garb and reached for the item that predicts their fortune. Thomas wore this same outfit when he was one. The items on the table were a pencil, string, and money. The pencil symbolizes intelligence, the string represents long life and the money is (obviously) wealth. After a moment of quiet contemplation, Connor went for the pencil.
We’re hopeful that he’ll use this intelligence to earn his wealth and use it for health insurance to prolong his life.
After the Toljabee Connor made angry faces at everyone while refusing to eat cake and then went back to laying on mom for the gift opening.
A sick baby does not make for a great party but we were grateful for all the people who came to share the special day. The good thing about having a baby born in the week of Thanksgiving it’s easy to find things to be thankful for.
Love it!
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