As the ancient Chinese tradition goes, families will throw celebrations once the baby reaches one month of age, called the "moon yuet" - on the morning of the 30th day my in-laws, who are fairly traditional, made offerings to the gods and their family's ancestors to help "protect" baby Kasen in his life path. my personal theory though on these one month celebrations is because back in the day infant mortality rates in China were much higher. In Hong Kong now they have 100 day parties instead of one month ones - at 3 months, babies are generally much more alert and a heck of alot more fun! From what I've also learned from family is that traditionally it was only done for boys, because it was believed that boys would pass on the family name, though nowadays it's done for both. Regardless of the sex it's a great excuse to party!
 |
| Our first family picture! |
Kasen's one month celebration was on Sunday, August 12, 2012 - almost exactly a month after his birth. It was held at Hei La Moon in Chinatown and was celebrated with lots of family and friends - he was such a little celebrity with lots of pappo everywhere! He was also tossed like a little hot potato from person to person who wanted to hold him and take a picture with him. Our first family picture post-hospital stay is included above!
There are a ton of customs that come with the one month milestone, everything from the gifts given to baby to the first haircut to the Chinese name that is given, with the number of strokes in the Chinese name said to have a hand in his fate. Kasen's Chinese name has 37 strokes in it including the surname, which [the 37 strokes that is] is the latest trend in Hong Kong now due to the fact that Li Ka-Shing, one of the richest men in China, named his two sons with 37 strokes. I'll never understand the craziness, but if that's what family wants, fine with me! Kasen's yeh yeh (paternal grandpa) and mah mah (paternal grandmother) named him
家揚 or ka yeung in Cantonese and jia yang in Mandarin. Ka means family-oriented, and yeung means that he will have a great destiny and be world renowned. Sounds good to me!
Kasen received many hong baos (red envelopes) per Chinese tradition, along with gold necklaces and bracelets bearing the dragon emblems because he is born in the year of the dragon. I'm not quite sure I understand the Chinese obsession with babies born in the year of the dragon (this year has been a major baby boom amongst Asians overall - I've joked with my husband that the hottest accessory for 2012 is a dragon baby), but I suppose the fact that it's the only mystical creature on the zodiac - where the remaining zodiac symbols are all animals - could have something to do with it. In any case, we found out that baby K, my husband, AND my mother in law were all born in the year of the dragon! Interestingly personalities can differ due to the elements as well. So one can be a dragon, but depending on the year that you are born in a cycle of 12 you could be a water, fire, earth, metal, or wood dragon. Baby K is a water dragon, while my husband is a fire dragon for example. The Chinese zodiac is fascinating!
No comments
Post a Comment