birthday bonanza

There were a lot of birthday parties this month. First there was my brother’s birthday party, which took its usual casual form. Then there was Exie’s pre-birthday party, which happened two weeks before her actual birthday because Akong (grampa) was in town from Taiwan. And since first birthdays are important in Chinese culture, this was somewhat of a big deal, involving a private room at a Dim Sum restaurant and lots of relatives. (I figure first birthdays are important in most cultures, but they seem especially so in Chinese.) Then there was a group birthday party, involving somewhere around 20 babies all born within a few months of each other, celebrated at a brave (and generous) volunteer parent’s house. And finally there was Exie’s correct-date birthday party, which happened at our house and involved mostly close friends. Phew. It was fun, but maybe next year we can have fewer.

group birthday party semi-controlled mayhem

Exie’s first cupcake

At the pre-birthday party, we did something called the Chinese Grab. A bunch of grab-able objects are presented to the baby, each representing a different profession. If we were limiting ourselves to the professions traditionally favored by Chinese parents we’d have only offered a stethoscope, a gavel, and a calculator. We didn’t have a stethoscope or a gavel, and accounting strikes us as perhaps a bit boring (sorry, all you accountants out there), so the assembled objects included a maraca (musician), a small laptop mouse (computer person), a pen (writer), a bottle of pills (doctor), and a whisk (chef). In the heat of the moment, somebody chucked a dollar bill into the mix (so accountant made it in after all), and Susan’s mom added a small wooden Russian doll – the kind that stacks inside itself. When asked what profession that represented, she replied, “Um… married to a Russian?” This seemed to be neither a profession nor something that a traditional Chinese grandparent might commonly want for their granddaughter, but my protests were shouted down and the doll remained in the mix. Don’t get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with being married to a Russian, but it strikes me as a tad odd for it to be one’s occupation.

the Chinese Grab

After a few tricky feints at other objects, she ironically chose the bottle of pills. I say “ironically” for a couple reasons: 1) While some parents might hope their child will grow up to be a doctor, and it is arguably among the most prestigious of professions, Susan and I really don’t have any such specific aspirations for Exie; 2) It seems to me that a bottle of pills could be interpreted in a few ways, not all of them positive. I might have even preferred “married to a Russian” after all.

For fun, we tried the same game at her correct-date birthday party, albeit with different cast of objects. Much to our surprise, she again chose the bottle of pills. Go figure. I suppose when Susan and I are old and feeble, and ailing from multiple maladies, it might come in handy.

It was an exciting (if not somewhat exhausting) couple of weeks. In fact, that’s pretty much true for the whole year. It both crawled and whizzed by. And now we have a one-year-old. Weird.

having some cake

opening presents

cleaning up after the party; “Now I’m one!”