I posted earlier about purchasing my daughter’s Hanbok (traditional Korean dress) from Little Seouls for her Dol (1st Birthday). I wanted to share a photo of her in it. Many thanks to Esther at Little Seouls for expediting the delivery to me on such short notice.

In the past, the death rate for children was extremely high for babies in Korea. Many died before their first birthday. After the age of one year, the survival rate steeply increased, making this milestone a very happy one for the child’s parents. It has also been a custom to celebrate a child’s 100 day birthday (baek-il) , but in most areas this birthday is less important than the Dol and any celebrations are smaller in scale.

“Dol” has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child’s first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-dol (first birthday), Du-dol (second birthday), Seo-dol (third birthday), etc.

Doljabee is a Korean 1st birthday tradition where the baby goes around the table and picks up items that attract her. The baby’s future is predicted according to the what she grabs. The first and second items the baby grabs are considered the most important. Usually Korean parents place the items that they want the child to choose near to the edge of the table. The baby’s future is predicted according to the items:

thread: the baby will have a long life
jujube: the baby will have many descendants
book, pencil, or related items: the baby will become a successful scholar
money, rice, or rice cake: the baby will have great wealth

My daughter selected the spool of thread, ensuring her a long life.