A few weeks ago, my husband called from China to tell me I had to throw a party for our daughter's 100th day. He is in China working while Emaryn and I enjoy a long vacation (all summer) in San Diego. I did the math; I had a week. Other than telling me it had to be special and to spare no expense, he didn't give me many details. Thank you Ben Berners-Lee! My mom and I googled our way to a minimal understanding about Chinese babies' 100th day celebrations.
One hundred days is considered significant because surviving them shows it is likely the baby will have a long life. The party gives parents the opportunity to celebrate their baby's survival and wish her long life.
"Red" eggs should be out on the tables because eggs' smooth oval shape symbolizes perfection. I was excited when I read "red;" I had visions of a big pot of hard-boiled eggs bathing in red dye. But my husband corrected me; "red" eggs are really brown eggs. I argued the merit of having brighter red eggs, but he responded with a determined no. He said Emaryn would look back at the pictures and begrudge my blunder. So brown eggs we boiled. I came up with the idea to make one for each person and write their names on them as place markers, and my mom had the wherewithal to YouTube search origami egg holders. We made the holders red, pink, and a few green to match the cake. The eggs were a big hit as many people ate them upon arrival.
 |
| Thanks to Ashleigh, Emaryn had a cool dragon coin with her egg. |
Another fact that we latched onto was that the guest of honor wears a silver "longevity lock" around her neck and special engraved bracelets. Thanks to my colleagues at Beijing International Studies University, we have both! The guest of honor wears a red dress and the other guests wear their Sunday best to show that they wish the baby a long and happy life.
 |
Ashleigh also gave her the jade dragon necklace.
It is very special because Emaryn was born in the year of the dragon. |
We read about a lot more significant things to celebrate a baby's 100th day, but Tiger wasn't familiar with them, so we went with the eggs and jewelry. I also gave her flowers because I read that flowers are important on a few websites. And I love flowers. We held the party at P.F. Chang's in Carlsbad because it's Chinese and delicious. Their patio is the perfect size for a party of 18.
 |
| I was and always will be a proud mama. |
When Emaryn wasn't sleeping, we passed her around, and she charmed everyone, as usual.
 |
| Emaryn and Ashleigh |
