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RECIPES

BABY

COOKBOOK

halloweens and first birthdays!

November 2, 2017

Our sweet boy is one!

I’ve been thinking and thinking about how to put this first year into words.  Life with our little monkey has been one of those rare things where we dreamed about it and thought about it and looked forward to it but it was somehow even better than we imagined.  It’s more than a little crazy, with work busier than it’s been for a long time, and any free time we have spent with our sunshiny little guy, but also so full.  There’s never been a day — as tiring or as messy, teething and nap boycotts and all — where I don’t miss him when the house goes quiet at his bedtime.  Being his mama is the greatest gift.

At the moment, Luke’s favorite game is peek-a-boo (a.k.a. “Where’s Luke?”), closely followed by let’s-stand-at-the-window-yelling-at-passers-by and let’s-open-all-the-drawers.  He would happily subsist on nothing but Cheerios if we let him.  We think his first words were “Oh, wow,” which baffled me until I listened to myself talk and heard myself say “wow” in response to pretty much everything in a conversation.

We celebrated his first birthday a few weekends ago, with his grandparents and a slew of wonderful aunties, uncles, and friends.  In keeping with B3’s Korean side, we dressed him up in a baby hanbok and had a doljabi, which I’ve been excited about ever since B2 and his mother explained it to me.  It’s a tradition where you set a row of items that signify some kind of future path in front of baby, and see which one he picks.  The choices are pretty much anything you can come up with, from super traditional, like a skein of yarn for long life or a bag of money for success, to more modern, like a gavel, a stethoscope, a golf club (or an In-n-Out hat!)  We picked a bowl of rice to represent “never going hungry,” a pencil for smartz, a paintbrush for creativity, and a bag of money; thinking we were being too boring, B2 went out and found a teeny basketball the day before the dol, and spent the rest of the time worrying about what we would do with an athletic son if Luke picked it.

And then, of course, Luke did pick the basketball.  He has no idea how his genes are stacked against him.  (He also showed zero interest in his cake, so basically we have nothing in common.)

Here are a couple links to the wonderful folks behind all the tasty and lovely things at Luke’s party!  Pretty much my only job was sticking some flowers on a beautifully-made cake and arranging some other beautifully-made things on tables — they were so great.

birthday things!
monkey cakes • cake topper • succulent cupcakes • flowers and succulents • thank you tags • garlands • photos

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P.S. And here’s Luke on Halloween!

master luke

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  1. alexandrastafford

    November 2, 2017 at 7:09 am

    What a cutie patootie!!! HBD Sweet Luke! Loved this beautiful post.

    Reply
    • tworedbowls

      November 8, 2017 at 10:56 am

      Luke says thank you!!! Hugs to you, Alexandra 🙂

      Reply
  2. Rossi @ A Baking Girl

    November 2, 2017 at 7:35 am

    omggggggg the skywalker costume!!!!!!

    Reply
    • tworedbowls

      November 8, 2017 at 10:56 am

      Hahaha, we had so much fun with that one! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Laura

    November 2, 2017 at 7:42 am

    Your baby boy is darling! I rarely post comments anywhere or on anything, however I couldn’t help myself when I saw this post of your beautiful family with your very sweet boy celebrating his first birthday…I have followed your blog for roughly a year, and WOW -> everything you make+photograph is indicative of your enormous talent, not just the spectacular photographs but doable, delicious recipes as well.
    Congratulations on all of your success! I look forward to purchasing your upcoming cookbook

    Reply
    • tworedbowls

      November 8, 2017 at 10:59 am

      What an incredibly kind thing to say! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such wonderful words, Laura. I so appreciate you reading and following along (especially with posts being a bit scarce this year!) You made my day.

      Reply
  4. Gerlinde

    November 2, 2017 at 7:58 am

    What a gorgeous post and what a beautiful family. I am amazed on how fast time goes by, my son is now 41 .

    Reply
    • tworedbowls

      November 8, 2017 at 11:04 am

      I can already tell it’s going to fly! Thank you so much for the kind words, Gerlinde.

      Reply
  5. Emily

    November 2, 2017 at 10:17 am

    I absolutely love the Korean 돌잔치 tradition! It is a beautiful and fun event! The pictures are amazing and Luke looks so adorable in his costume and his 한복! Congratulations!

    Reply
    • tworedbowls

      November 8, 2017 at 11:06 am

      Thank you so much, Emily!!

      Reply
  6. minapark1

    November 2, 2017 at 10:33 am

    Happy birthday, Luke Skywalker! Having followed along since the first days of your Three Bowl life, it’s amazing it’s already been a year! Looks like a gorgeous and fitting celebration, Cynthia! xx

    Reply
  7. Monica

    November 2, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    What an adorable little guy! Great party and he looked so cute for Halloween! Time does fly…my son is twelve but I remember his first bday vividly. Savor the sweetness! : )

    Reply
  8. Madeline

    November 2, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    happy birthday luke! this is such a sweet post. I love the story behind the korean birthday tradition too – so cool!

    Reply
  9. thefolia

    November 2, 2017 at 6:45 pm

    Cheers to succulents, first birthdays and beautiful cakes…may you have many more joyous birthdays!

    Reply
  10. Kelsey @ Appeasing a Food Geek

    November 6, 2017 at 3:31 am

    Oh my gosh this is so cute I’m literally dying over here. Love seeing shots from the celebration and his Halloween costumes. Thanks for sharing, and congrats on the full year, and many years to come! xoxo

    Reply
  11. Whit

    November 7, 2017 at 12:10 pm

    omg so cute! what a great little birthday party!

    Britt+Whit

    Reply
  12. Ala

    November 7, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    You guys honestly make the best family everrrr. I’m so enamored by these photos–and never fear, with his genes he’ll pick the coolest sport around (Master Archer has a nice ring to it, no?)! Congrats on reaching the one-year celebration and sharing these amazing updates!

    Reply
  13. Agness of Run Agness Run

    November 8, 2017 at 2:19 am

    Happy birthday to the cute little boy! He is so cute. The birthday decoration and the cake seem astonishing. I’d love to play pick-a-boo with him. 😉

    Reply
  14. em

    November 8, 2017 at 7:42 am

    aghh he’s so cute!!! I loved the pics where he’s wearing the hanbok…happy belated birthday, luke!

    Reply
  15. Jane Y.

    November 9, 2017 at 7:06 am

    Happy happy (belated) birthday, Luke! I loved the story of the doljabi 🙂 of course he went for the basketball 🙂 many more happy birthdays to your little one

    Reply
  16. tableofcolors

    November 12, 2017 at 1:20 am

    Such a beautiful party full of lovely details! I could have almost guessed that he would choose the ball…almost any kid that age would probably go for the ball 🙂 Happy birthday to your sweet little one!

    Reply
  17. cococakeland

    December 1, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    oh my goodness gracious. ONE YEAR OLD ALREADY and that is craziness. It feels like yesterday I was wiping tears away after reading your birth post … and SO CUTE he went for the basketball! Hehe. Auntie Lyndsay can teach him how to shoot hoops … my sister and I are oddly pretty good at getting the ball in the hoop for average-height Chinese ladies. What a sweet lucky boy, what an amazing party and the loveliest parents!! Happy 1st, lil bud! xo

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. ugly–cupcakes: succulent cupcakes | Fitness Spider says:
    April 20, 2018 at 12:31 am

    […] succulent cupcakes […]

    Reply
  2. clara is one! - Two Red Bowls says:
    March 12, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    […] she chose the baseball, so we are two for two in children who will be fighting a distinctly uphill battle given how athletic their parents are (aka, not). We […]

    Reply
  3. fiona's first birthday - Two Red Bowls says:
    June 20, 2022 at 9:50 am

    […] the kids, who adore Grandma and Grandpa, have just relished it. We did learn our lesson from the first two doljabis and did not put out anything ball-like this time around. Lo, Fiona picked the pencil […]

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Cynthia

An avid eater and dabbling food-maker living in California with my husband, “Bowl #2,” and our baby bowls, Luke, Clara, and Fiona.

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