His First Big Birthday

Remember little Kellen? Well, he recently turned one.

In Korean culture, the one year birthday or “Tol” is historically very significant.

Way back when, due to Korea’s climate, and many childhood illnesses, childhood mortality was extremely high. Many children unfortunately died within their first year of birth.

After the age of one, the survival rate improved, which made this a significant moment for the child & their family.

Tol has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child’s first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-tol (first birthday), Du-tol (second birthday), Seo-tol (third birthday), etc.

According to my favorite online source; Wikipedia, A boy would traditionally wear: pink or striped jogori (jacket) with puple or gray paji (pants), striped durumagi (long jacket), a blue vest printed with a gold or silver pattern or a striped magoja (jacket), a jonbok (long blue vest) with a gold or silver pattern, bokgun (black hat with a long tail), and a tarae-busun (traditional socks).

And as you can see, Kellen was a #1 Stunna!

Thanks Brandon & Kathleen for trusting me helping you to preserve Kellen’s special moments!

You can see a few more images from my session with Kellen here.