As our Moon Baby enters her eleventh month on Planet Earth, her mom continues to be amazed by progress little Luna has made since her birth. The first time mom and daughter went swimming, Luna could not stay for the entire 30 minutes because she would get too cold, even though the water is about 32 degrees Celsius (which is roughly 90 degrees Fahrenheit). And Luna could not keep her head up by herself or grab things that were held in front of her. She seemed only slightly aware of her surroundings and could only communicate by crying. Now Luna would prefer to swim for more than half an hour, holds her head up high, loves to play with toys, looks straight at the camera, and has long conversations about her experiences. The one thing that has remained a constant is that Luna is not crazy about going under water. And who can blame her? Esther-Mirjam now tries it very briefly each time.

It seems like ages ago that Esther-Mirjam and Luna visited the United States, but in fact it was less than two months ago that they were there. When they spent a lovely afternoon with Aunt Kerry, the latter took a few pictures of mom and daughter (row below). As you can see, Luna was very much into clapping her hands and pulling her mom's necklace then. Esther-Mirjam and Kerry were fellow students at Stanford, which explains why Luna is wearing her Stanford Cardinal outfit (below left), courtesy of Aunt Kerry. These pictures just arrived, which is why they are posted on Luna's website now.

October 14 and October 17 are two happy days for the (Opa Tano) Sent, (Oma Alie) Kerkhof, (Opa Ben) Mulder, and (Oma Naatje) Spann families, because Esther-Mirjam holds the inaugural address for her chaired professorship at the Radboud University Nijmegen on the 14th (top right) and Tante Daniëlle obtains a Ph.D. degree from the University of Utrecht on the 17th (top left). As a result, Luna finds herself surrounded by flowers (bottom left), while she wears her hair in a special coupe (bottom right). Oma Alie arranges Tante Daniëlle's hair, while Tante Daniëlle feeds Luna, while Ome Geert has fun playing with his sister-in-law's camera, taking a picture of himself in her mirror (row below).

The fall colors make the view from the top floor of Esther-Mirjam and Luna's house very special (below left) and give the chair and table in their back yard a very warm setting (below right). Esther-Mirjam and Luna have been so busy that it has taken them until the fall to visit Sebastiaan to congratulate him on his birthday in ... September (below middle)! They try to make up for this by showering him with presents, which seems to do the trick. Tante Daphne is happy to spend time with Luna again, of course.

When her mom leaves for work in the morning, Luna waves her bye bye (left) and pushes her face against the window to get a good look at her departing mom (right).

Luna begs, pleads, and smiles to convince her mom and Oma Alie that she needs a bath (row above). After they give in, Luna gives them an appreciative look and makes a big mess splashing in the water (left and right). While in her bath, she relaxes and plays, and afterward she loves being dried (row below). There is not much that Luna does not enjoy.

The great thing about fall having arrived in the Netherlands is that Luna gets to look cute in her new orange coat (row below). As you can see, Luna is more excited about her thumb than her coat, though she really rarely sucks her thumb.

Luna is quite the entertainer, as evidenced by the video clip to which you have access by clicking on the link below. While her mom is finding it difficult to find time to play the piano, Luna is taking advantage of the opportunity to give it a try herself.
Click here to watch the clip.

When Oma Naatje celebrates her birthday, Luna gets to wear her new skirt and tights (left). When she is away from her grandparents, Luna pretends to talk to them on her makeshift phone (right). This is something that Luna came up with all by herself. Such imagination already!

Miss Moon entertains her family fan club by playing peekaboo with a plate (far left). Again, this is something that she started doing all by herself. Luna has once pulled herself up to a standing position. Her observers were too stunned and worried about Luna hurting herself that this did not get photographed. For now, Luna sitting on her knees will have to do (middle).

The fine motor skills of our Moon Baby are very well developed. She can pick up a raisin from the table (middle) and put it in her mouth (far right). If you look carefully, though, you can see that the raisin has not quite made it to Luna's mouth yet. However, our little lady is very determined, so the raisin will soon be where it belongs!

And here it is: proof that Luna can indeed pull herself up to a standing position all by herself (row below). Having recently acquired this skill, Luna likes to practice it as much as possible, pulling herself up on whatever is nearby. There is one small problem, which is that our Moon Baby does not always know how to get down again. It feels like having entered a new phase in Luna's existence, where she learns the limits of her skills by hurting herself. Of course, her family fan club members try to protect her as much as possible from taking big tumbles!

When Oma-Mama Mulder, Opa Ben's mother, is having health problems, Luna tries to make her feel better by paying her a visit (far left) and sharing her most adorable smile (middle). She is rewarded with a beautiful bear knitted by Oma-Mama Mulder. What a lucky baby to have such a wonderful Oma-Mama.

Not only can Luna now pull herself up, she can also climb on top of many things, including her bouncing chair (middle) and play cube (far right). Uh oh, it looks like it is time to put the bouncing chair away and to teach Luna that the play cube is not quite as steady as her play pen. Our young lady is slowly learning the laws of physics! (Incidentally, these pictures of Luna in her striped pants were all taken on the same day, by Oma Alie and Opa Ben. No worries about Luna having to wear the same clothes day in day out!)

Luna visits Oma-Mama Spann, Oma Naatje's mother, to congratulate her on her 99th birthday. Together, they are almost 100 years old! The two ladies shake hands and play with the garland around Oma-Mama Spann's neck, until ... ahum ... Luna pulls a little too hard and tears the garland. It is difficult to imagine the difference between the lives of these two ladies. So much has changed especially for colored women over the past hundred years. Luna is a lucky lady that women (and men) have fought for her rights.

Luna gets to visit Bremen in Germany when her mom attends the conference of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy in that city. Tante Irma joins them to babysit Luna whenever Esther-Mirjam is busy. While in Bremen, Luna poses in front of the City Musicians of Bremen (below left) and the Bremen City Hall (below right). Luna also gives her new portable child seat a thumbs up (below middle). That is, her mom interprets her cute smile that way!

Luna's trip to Bremen is cut short when the awful news reaches her that Opa Ben has had a cerebral hemorrhage. Please keep Opa Ben in your prayers and send him your supportive thoughts. Luna loves her Opa Ben so very much and gets the biggest smile on her face whenever she sees him. She needs her Opa to play with her and make sure she does not fall when she stands up.

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Eleven months old!

Uncertainty over Opa Ben's health hangs like a dark shadow over the celebration of Luna's eleventh Month Day. Luna's house serves as the headquarters for the worried family members. Luna offers them some much-needed diversion, and our little lady loves the attention she receives in return. She is such a charmer!