Upon entering her eighteenth month on Planet Earth, Luna gets to celebrate Mother's Day. This involves visiting with Oma Naatje (below), ...

... posing in the chair the latter bought for her (left), and visiting with Oma Alie (below). Esther-Mirjam is hoping for breakfast in bed next year!

When the Old Loo Castle and its surrounding Loo Royal Park open for the public, which happens rarely, Hans, Esther-Mirjam, and Luna decide to go there for a visit. The park was designed in a romantic landscape style, with beautiful solitary trees, ponds, pavillions, cascades, and views on the castle. While strolling through the park, papa and Luna encounter several deer (top left). Mama and Luna pose in front of the Old Loo Castle (middle left). And Luna enjoys the reflecion of the castle in the surrounding moat (bottom left). Hans and Luna have fun playing in the grass (top right), some of which seems to have gotten stuck in papa's ear (middle right). Finally, Luna poses up-side-down with a beautiful pond and lovely tea pavillion in the background (bottom right).

When mama and papa celebrate Mensa's 60th anniversary, Luna gets to spend a night with Oma Alie and Opa Ben, who have bought a new chair and table that are still a little big for our toddler (below left). Luna much prefers to climb onto Opa Ben's chair (below middle). After all this hard work, it is high time for a bath (below right).

Excited about Luna's newly acquired walking skills, Esther-Mirjam forgets that the photo camera is turned to the video option when she asks Hans to take a few pictures during their visit to yet another children's animal farm, Malkenschoten. The result is the outtake you can access by clicking on the link below.
Click here to watch the clip.

When there is some stale bread left over, Luna gets to feed the ducks, along with Hans and Aafke (right). The rain does not deter her, but she is not crazy about the ducks trying to eat her hands along with the bread.

On Ascension Thursday, which is a holiday in the Netherlands, Luna and Lotte go for a stroll around the Loenen Falls (left). You see, the countryside in the Netherlands is very flat, which means that waterfalls are pretty rare, and the Loenen Falls are quite impressive in the eyes of Dutch people.

Luna makes yet another visit to the Old Loo Castle and its surrounding Loo Royal Park when Aunt Michelle and Uncle Hans (left and right) come over for a visit to Apeldoorn. They enjoy a very long and lovely stroll through the park.

When Opa Ben's family has a reunion, Luna is present, of course. Two long tables are barely enough to seat everybody (left). Hans tries out his best Luna imitation, including the drool, much to the amusement of Aafke (right). Or is it embarrassment? Luna is also a star at entertaining those whose attention she is lucky enough to obtain (row below).

During the Second Pentecost Day, which is yet another holiday celebrated by the Dutch, Luna gets to visit Apenheul, which is a monkey zoo that is within biking range of Hans's house. Ruben and Aafke come along (top left). The latter two try to get the fish to eat their fingers, without any luck (top right). Apenheul features pretty peacocks (middle left) along with a wide variety of spectacular monkeys (middle right). Luna likes what she sees (bottom left) and even tries to imitate the monkeys (bottom right).

When the weather turns hot in the Netherlands, Luna gets to cool down in her very own inflatable baby bath. She loves to splash the water (below left), enjoys playing with the toys that come with the bath (below middle), and has fun getting her face wet when blowing bubbles in the water (below right). Baby swimming is definitely helping to make Luna feel completely at ease while in the water.

When there is a small fair in Apeldoorn, papa arranges free tickets for Luna to go in the merry-go-round (left). She is barely big enough to fit on the motorcycle, but has lots of fun nonetheless.

Luna loves to come along when Esther-Mirjam and Hans go shopping (right). One reason is that the latter usually arranges something for Luna to eat. And Luna also enjoys sitting in the grocery cart.

When Oma Brink comes over for a visit, Luna is ready for a nap and starts crying (left). She is calmed down when Oma Brink lets Luna check out her scooter. Sadly, Oma Brink's health is not good, making it all the more impressive and wonderful that she came over for a visit.

When the Dutch soccer team, a.k.a. "Orange," plays its first World Cup match, Luna watches it while wearing the team colors (right). She enjoys the first half from the comfort of her inflatable baby bath and the second from her play pen. Like everybody else in the Netherlands, Luna is beside herself with joy when the Dutch beat Serbia-Montenegro with a score of 1-0.

When Luna visits Angeline and Michiel in Amsterdam (below), she finds out that Anne Frank (left) lived next to the lawn on which she hangs out during the visit, on Merwedeplein 37 (right). Hans is very touched by it all, since Anne Frank is one of his heroes.

When the weather continues to be hot, Luna gets to splash in the Wyler Bergmeer, which is a nearby lake,

where she plays with Hans,

and notices herself peeing for the first time. That evening (June 12) is the first time she offers a good-night kiss.

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Eighteen months old!

To celebrate her Month Day, Luna herself is decorated instead of her play pen (left) and Luna gives herself a cheer instead of her family fan club (right). At a year and a half old, another visit to the Youth Health Bureau is required. This time Luna weighs in at 10.2 kilos (22.49 US pounds), which is about average, and measures 80 centimeters (31.5 inches), which is also pretty much average. Again, she gets a clean bill of health. What a good girl Luna continues to be.