Entering 2011 is very exciting on many levels. We are entering the new year as a family rather than as a couple. As such, we want to make sure Ruby gets to know her family traditions. New Years Day has some special rituals in Korean families, so we started off 2011 doing these with Ruby for the first time.
We started off heading down to my mom’s place, where she had prepared the traditional New Year breakfast of duk-kook, which is a very tasty and nourishing soup. It was delicious! It was Carrie’s first time eating this dish – she liked it a lot!
Afterwards, it was time for Ruby to do “sae-beh”, where children wish their grandparents a happy new year with a bow. Of course, I had to help Ruby out with this as she can’t talk or bow on her own just yet!
Halmoni (the Korean word for Grandmother) gave Ruby the cutest card and a gift!
Three generations!
Ruby loves her Halmoni!
Afterwards, we went to celebrate my dad’s birthday (which is January 1!) where Ruby got to meet her cousins Jeffrey and Luke, and their Uncle Danny and Aunt Janet for the first time.
Ruby did “sae-beh” to her Harabuji (Korean for Grandfather) too!
Three generations!
It was especially sweet just how much Jeffrey and Luke took to Ruby. And vice versa! Ruby kept smiling at them and trying to suck their fingers.
It was a wonderful and very special New Year’s Day, and we can’t wait to see what this year will have in store for us! It’s going to be a very fast year, I suspect, as babies do grow up fast. By this time next year, Ruby will be walking and maybe even uttering a word or two. It’s going to be an amazing year, so watch this space!
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| New Years Day 2011 |
Ed and Carrie wanted to come down to my place on this New Year’s Day to do Sae-beh (Korean traditional Big-Bow on New Year’s Day). I thought to myself “hmm, Sae-beh?! Well, this is new…what’s this all about??…do they think since I am now officially a Halmoni (grandma in Korean) that I should deserve to get Sae-beh from them like an old lady?…hmm…” I prepared the traditional New Year’s Day breakfast of duk-kook for them and resignedly waited for another rite of passage. I certainly did not anticipate the scene I was about to witness. Ed and Carrie were not the ones planned to do Sae-beh! They wanted to start EARLY to teach and pass down Korean cultural heritage to Ruby and to help her become appreciative of her roots! So they wanted to make Ruby somehow do Sae-beh to Halmoni. HAHAHAHA….talking about ambitious young parents! Ruby was fed right before Ed placed her little bottom on the floor to perform (indeed!) Sae-beh. This Poor 2-month old struggled to bend down with her little face turning red and sound of a deep groan escaping from her lips! Her full tummy just wouldn’t cooperate to be folded in half! She finally managed to get herself free from this agonizing posture and got flat on her tummy!!! The image of her struggling to go along with this forced cultural indoctrination kept me smiling all day. Starting a New Year with this precious little being’s sweet blessing for her Halmoni, the prospect of 2011 for me looks comet-bright! Life is so good like that sometimes… Thank you Ed and Carrie for being such thoughtful, awesome parents! Love you all so much!!! From Halmoni with permanent smile on her face…
Happy New Year Kim’s! (is it appropriate to say that even though it’s Jan. 15th already?)