Ayi's Grandson's 100 Days Pcitures

100 Days

I just had to post the pictures that the Ayi gave me of her grandson. Unfortunately, I have to call him "him" as I have only heard his name in Chinese and I don't have the pinyin version of it! I'll get Ayi to write it out for me next week and then one of my pengyou's to translate it!. For Chinese babies, the 100 Day Birthday celebration is a big day. This is an important day for the baby because 100 days birth celebration represents the wish that the baby will live 100 years. Instead of a big party, they took him for his first formal pictures. This is a big deal, because it is not cheap. I want to say it was around 1300 RMB or about $200. Ayi told me that this money was taken from the money they received at the 1 month party. The interesting part of that conversation was learning that a % of the money that was given to the family was earmarked for certain future celebrations like this. They also set aside some money to pay for his first birthday, which in fact will occur in a few weeks. This is because it is traditional to celebrate all births during Chinese New Year (lunar year). That is the traditional age or 虚岁(zhōusùi). And in fact, he is already one and will be two at the lunar holiday! Confused? But most families nowadays use modern age 实岁(shísùi) which is the actual birth date.

The violin to make him look sophisticated!

A couple of observations about the baby pictures. First of all, you may notice the haircut. The first haircut actually comes at the one month date. It was explained that the sides are shaved of all the hair that was considered to have grown in the womb. That hair was tied with a red ribbon and kept as a keepsake. So you can see that the top of his head has more hair. And they didn't actually use a razor to shave it, just scissors. Then there is the choice of composition. The gangster with glasses and pipe is my favorite! But what's up with the ear muffs? 


So, thought I would share these. Enjoy!!

Funny that they would choose a gangster look!

This is just cute!

Why earmuffs?