Sixteenth Month of Luna Sent

 

 

When Luna visits the Youth Health Bureau, she weighs in at 9850 grams (21.71 US pounds) and measures 77 centimeters (30.31 inches). Her height is a little below average, but her weight is just right for her height. Our poor Moon Toddler receives no fewer that two shots, one in each arm. She cries for a very brief while, but goes back to her daily business shortly afterwards, without experiencing any after effects.
Remember Iris? She is the daughter of Irene, with whom Esther-Mirjam took birthing classes. Iris and Luna go for a walk in their strollers (below left). When they take a break, Iris begs Luna for a kiss (below middle), but our young lady is too busy playing with her coat and lying on top of it (below right).
When Luna and Iris fight over a box of raisins (below left), their moms ask them to make up with a kiss (below middle). The two toddlers seem a little surprised afterwards (below right).
Luna loves to hang out with the Brink clan. Here she is pictured with Aafke, Ruben, and Lotte (left) and with Lenneke (right). Luna is very much looking forward to becoming a "real" sibling of the four sisters and one brother.
Hans insists that it is high time for Luna to get a hair cut and makes an appointment at a children's hair salon around the corner from his house in Apeldoorn. Luna is not too crazy about getting her hair cut (top left and top right), despite the lovely setting in which this is done. In the end, though, she is quite pleased with the result (bottom left and bottom right).
Luna is so very happy that Opa Ben is able to hang out with her again. They go for a stroll in downtown Nijmegen (far right), where Opa Ben treats Luna to some bread (middle right).
Luna no longer needs any help with drinking or eating bread (left). It appears that she also no longer needs any help with making funny faces while eating.
When Spring hits the Netherlands, Hans and Esther-Mirjam take Luna out for some ice cream. Luna is not crazy about it at first (below left), but quickly gets a taste for ice cream (below middle), and eventually licks her lips (below right).
The food experiments continue when Opa Ben gives Luna a pickle (middle left). Again, Luna is a real trouper about food (far left). She is a very easy eater, fortunately.
Luna continues to be on the verge of walking, but much prefers riding in cars (right). It seems that her fear of falling is keeping her from walking. One comforting thought is that she will walk eventually. There is no hurry.

Luna is now calling Hans "papa" and enjoys it so much that she keeps repeating it. Her desperate mom is trying to get her to say "mama" instead and to distract her from saying "papa" by making her point to her nose, but Luna sabotages that as well, as you can see in the clip you can access by clicking on the link below. Towards the end of the clip you can hear Hans send them a text message to let them know that he is on his way. Seriously, Esther-Mirjam and Luna are very happy with their partner/papa.
Click here to watch the clip.

Note: You can watch the clip with the free QuickTime player.
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(In Dutch.)
Click here to download QuickTime for MAC. (In Dutch.)
Warning: The clip files are large!

When Esther-Mirjam has another reunion with the women from her birthing class, Luna causes all toddlers to cry by either pulling their hair or punching their cheeks. It looks like some tough parenting is in order. Luna is separated in the play pen (left) and joined by the others for the picture (right). However, none of the toddlers seems too excited about this Kodak moment!
Luna gets to go to the Burgers' Bush zoo with papa, mama, and Ruben (top left). She poses with Ruben in the desert (middle left) and with Hans and Ruben in the aquarium (bottom left). Luna gets to sit in her mom's neck (top middle) and Esther-Mirjam points out the fish to her (top right). All the excitement makes Luna blush (middle right) and feel very sleepy (bottom right). Luna is looking forward to many, many more trips like this with her family.

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Sixteen months old!


Uh oh, Luna does not really celebrate her Month Day this month. Instead, she has a "normal" day that ends in a "normal" way. That is, Hans reads Goodnight Moon to her (below left), sings Old MacDonald had a farm (below middle), and tucks her in with her bear (below right). As usual, Luna falls asleep a few minutes afterwards. What a good girl she continues to be!