The Stewart Family: Zoe's 1st birthday party

How gorgeous does Zoe look in her Cheongsam??? We had her first birthday and Zhou Sui party on Saturday and we dressed Zoe in her traditional outift. She was really hamming it up in these photos. I usually can't get her to smile for too long for photos, but she realised she was the centre of attention and made the most of it!

Gotta love a face like this! Zoe's been pulling this face for a couple of weeks and now we've finally got it on camera! She is such a ham.

Awwww...

In her lion hat which is meant to encourage Zoe to be brave through lifes journey and, if necessary, to put on a mask of bravery until such time as her heart grows strong. She also has on lion/tiger shoes which are to encourage Zoe to walk through life with courage.

Seb wore his hanbok in celebration of his sister's first birthday.

Our two gorgeous kids

Family shot.

I'm so glad we hired the jumping castle!!! The kids were kept occupied jumping, with some practically jumping the whole three hours!

There are two special customs in the Zhoe Sui. The first one was a symbolic cutting of ties to past sorrows, past loves or work left undone in the past life. Zoe had to walk from me, who symbolised a reliance on the family to provide, to Ian, who symbolised a move to the world of work and independence. Zoe wasn't in the mood to do much walking, it was more of an annoyed bunny hop! She was ready for bed, so all things considered she did quite well :) As she 'walked' from me to Ian, my sister made three cuts in the ground which symbolised cutting of all past ties in life and frees Zoe to embrace her new life.

Our little tiger.

The second custom is the choosing of destiny. Ian, Seb and I walked Zoe around the table two times (had to be an even number for luck) before we put her behind a table which had items symbolising different things. Zoe was to choose her destiny depending on what she picked from the table.