I love to read

In addition to my BBQ in the park, I also had a Korean celebration of my first birthday. There were about 50 or 60 of my relatives there from Dad's side of the family. It was pretty opulent -- Halmoni and Haraboji rented a hotel banquet room with a Korean buffet, and the setup was pretty fresh. Check out the above head table where I sat, and check out the balloons!


And here's a pop-quiz for you: look at the photo below, and tell me which of these things is not like the others?


During the party, we played a traditional fortune-telling game called dol ja bee where I basically get to choose from a layout of various items. There was thread (representing long life), book (scholarship), crayons (artistry), money (wealth), and pencils (not sure, maybe a life of sitting at a desk?). Mom and Dad asked guests to vote for what I would choose. They made these cute baskets where people cast their ballots:

After photos (more will be posted later), eating, and cake-cutting, I sat down on a blanket and Dad and Mom arranged all the items before my feet. Can you guess which item I went for? I went for a computer mouse! You see, at the last minute before the game, the hotel manager brought over his own dol ja bee set that included, of all things, a computer mouse. Against Mom and Dad's objections, however, Halmoni and Haraboji replaced my colorful crayons with a computer mouse. Mom still prefers to believe that I will grow up to be artistic and creative, and not develop tendonitis in my mousing hand.

After the mouse, I chose the book. Dad had a feeling that was going to happen, since I've been pretty interested in my books at home. There's a basket of books in my room, and sometimes I will even forgo the chewable toys and wheels, and pick out a book and flip through the pages. THIS, however, is my all-time favorite book, Touch and Feel WILD ANIMALS.


When given a choice between this and any other book in my collection, I always choose this one. There is a lion with a hairy mane, a lizard with bumpy skin, a dolphin with smooth, slippery skin, a koala with a furry body, and this....this is my all-time favorite page in the book -- a tree frog with sticky pads on its fingers. I can sit for minutes, just poking the sticky pads like this:


Well, it's gonna be awhile before I get to play with a mouse or a computer so in the meantime I'll gladly settle for my books.