Pick my future (Birthday cont.)

Besides letting Changton ate noodles on his first BD, we had another Chinese ritual of birthday grab for him. According to the tradition, a set of items are placed on the toddler's first birthday so that the toddler may pick whatever they fancy. Whatever item they pick may be an indication of the child's future career. Umm, the ritual sounds great to Changton's superstitious mom! So on his BD, mami placed several items following the Chinese traditional birthday grab including a book, a stamp, a knife, a bag of rice, money, a ruler, onion, etc. She also added a few items of her own, including nintendo game, a computer mouse, and an eyeglass.

Once the items were placed, Changton was allowed to pursue the objects. Normally Changton loves to crawl and grab everything he sees. But when the birthday grab kicked off and he was free to crawl, he sat and watched the items instead. He must felt the pressure, as we all watched and cheered him on. After a minute or so, he started to crawl towards the items. He paused and examined all the items. Then he carefully used his tiny fingers to grab the PEN! Phew!! Everyone sighed!!!

"The pen means that Changton will have a career in the literacy", said Auntie May. "Yes, he's a smart boy, he will be a young man of talent", added dad who couldn't be prouder!! Mom thinks that the pen pick really suits Changton's Chinese name, Hong-Po, which means a scholar. Hong-Po was name after Nei Nei (Changton's grandma) brought Changton's date and time of birth to consult her fortune-teller.

The first pick was done. We let him go for the second pick, which determines his hobby. Changton picked the "eyeglass". As this item was added by mami, no ritual explanation for this one. So mami came up of her own, "Changton will love reading, like his mom", and "it's in the gene, what can you expect when both dad and mom wear eyeglasses!".

Changton was then asked to go for a final round. He picked a 1000 bank note. He turned to us and waved it in the air. Instead of giving a translation for his third pick, everyone begged Changton for the red pocket!! Well, who needs translations when the action was loud and clear of Changton's future!!

Happy birthday, Changton. You have brought us so much joy. Whatever you want to be in the future, dad and mom will always be there for you.