Korean Dol Party

It's a Korean tradition to have a huge celebration when a baby turns one.  In the past, infant mortality rates were very high so if a baby could make it past the first year then they would hopefully continue to have long life.  For Jamon & Josie I didn't know very much about the Dol party-and looking back I wish I would have done my research.  Jolie wore a habok, which we borrowed from Kiana Roper, and its a beautiful dress in bright pink, green, yellow, blue and red.  It's beautiful.  A big part of the Dol party is the doljabi game.  We placed four traditional items on a tray and let Jolie choose.  The tradition is whichever item the child choose & picks up first is their life path.  We chose yarn (symbolizes long life), dollar bill (wealth), paintbrush (artist/the arts), and a book (scholar).  I made a little board that read:  What Will Jolie Choose? We had people raise their hands to guess which one they thought she'd pick up first.  The book and the dollar bill were tied with four votes each.  Guess which one she chose?

Jolie chose $ or as Jamon and Josie said:  "Jolie chose George Washington!" Uncle Josh claims he knew it all along....

Great Grandma Jo hand sews each grandchild & great-grandchild a Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy doll.  They are hand embroidered with the child's name and an "I love you."  An heirloom gift.