100 days together.

in korean culture, new parents celebrate their baby's 100th day of life, or baek-il. historically, it was a milestone for babies to live to 100 days in the face of poverty, lack of good nutrition and medical care, and the overall delicate nature of infants. so when a child made it to 100 days, it was a cause for celebration. nowadays, most children do live up to their 100th day, but this cultural celebration is still observed. after all, who doesn't love a celebration? ;)

when my friend tina celebrated her son's baek-il, she posted this explanation (found online) of the significance of the number 100 in korean culture:

Koreans love the number 100!
It’s not just a coincidence that couples celebrate the first 100th day of dating with 100 roses. It’s because the number 100 is significant in Korean culture. 100 means fullness and completion. As young couples who have reached a milestone of relationship on their 100th day, a baby has accomplished so much and significantly grown for her first 100 days. Koreans even have an expression “The miracle of baekil”(백일의 기적) to praise their babies when babies start to know the difference of day and night, and sleep more hours at night around their 100 day. Baek-il is to celebrate growth for babies’ first 100 days!

i love the idea of 100 meaning fullness and completion, especially since today marks our 100th day of being a family. (!!!) one hundred days ago, our son was placed into our arms forever. december 17, 2010 will forever mark the day we became a family of three.

though he was a little weary at first,


choi boy quickly took to us (with a little help from some shrimp crackers),


and we rode off into the sunset to begin our new life together.

even though we were not there for cb's 100th day of life (we didn't even know who he was at that point -- imagine that!), we are so happy to be able to celebrate 100 days as a family. these first 100 days together have been full of such joy and laughter and *fullness*. we are so grateful for our boy and so honored to be his parents. daily.

when cb first came home, we had all the intentions of throwing a big welcome home celebration. but then we got busy adjusting to our new normal, and it was cold (that's my excuse for a lot during the winter months...), and before we knew it, was nearly time for me to head back to work. so, we scratched that idea and decided we would just hold off on a big celebration until choi boy's second birthday. but, we couldn't pass this milestone by, as silly as some might deem it. so instead of a big party, we gathered with our family and celebrated in the best way we know how.

with food.

duh! ;)

i think it's pretty safe to say choi boy thoroughly enjoyed his meal of galbi, bap, and bahnchan.


as a very special treat, my dad gave cb some galbi with the bone on. (um, vegetarians, you may want to avert your eyes here.) notice the crazed look in cb's eyes.



ain't nobody gettin' between me and my galbi. ya heard?!

we are so thankful to family close by and so happy we could celebrate this special day together.

hahmee and hahbee graciously footed the bill for our celebratory dinner,


and cb got some cuddle time with hahbee, whom he absolutely adores.
(blurry pic, but so sweet, right?!)

cb's great uncle (my dad's little brother) and great aunt also came out to celebrate:

eek, terrible pic! all in the name of posterity, i tell you!

of course, the eemos were also there, but after the last pic with his great aunt and uncle, cb was done with the paparazzi.

luckily, we managed to get one fairly decent family shot before dinner.

cb still looks a bit weary of us here, but i promise, he *does* enjoy us. ;)

and we SO very much enjoy every moment with him.

happy 100 days, choi boy!