The twenty-eighth month of our Moon Child on Planet Earth gets off to a sad start, because her bonus-Oma Brink passes away on March 15, at the young age of 70. Here the two are pictured about half a year ago (left). What adds to the sadness is the fact that Oma Brink will not get to meet Luna's future brother. When Luna attends the cremation ceremony, her mom has to employ all kinds of tricks to keep her quiet, and fails a few times. Luna is such a chatterbox! And she is so happy to have a chance to meet the Brink kids again.

Fortunately, there are good times for our Moon Child as well. For instance, Ome Arno comes over for a visit and reads a book to his young niece (right). The latter is still waking up from her afternoon sleep, as you can see! Ome Arno has been a great help during the past four, ahum, moves of little Luna.

Though Esther-Mirjam's pregnancy leave has officially started, she goes to her office on occasion to stay on top of the developments there. Luna plays with the paperclips, but is kind enough to put them all back in the container, singing "De spullen in de doos" (below left). She enjoys sitting in her mom's chair (below middle) and typing on her mom's computer (below right). Might a career in academia be in store for her? No pressure, of course, whatever makes Luna happy!

The fact that Esther-Mirjam is on pregnancy leave does not mean that she can be found at home much. She spends much of her time shopping for furniture, tools, and the like at Ikea, Gamma, and so on (top left). Luna loves to come along, but needs a breather in between trips (bottom left). After having relaxed some (top right), off the two go again to buy groceries at Albert Heijn and things for Luna's future brother at Prénatal (bottom right).

Luna is very fortunate that Aafke comes over for a visit (above middle), because the latter cooks a delicious meal for her and her mom. And Aafke is great company, too! The grandparents also continue to come over to help Luna and her mom get their house in order. Oma Naatje plays with Luna, while the grandfathers work on the tv & stereo arrangement (left). Luna is not so crazy about the noise they produce (right).

Luna accompanies her mom whenever the latter visits the "baby doctor" in the Radboud Hospital, which is also where Luna was born (below middle). She steals the hearts of the people whom she meets by being such a good girl. That is, this time she did manage to produce a dirty diaper, while her mom had neglected to bring a clean one. Bad mom! The ultrasound shows a full stomach and part of a leg, but is quite hard to decipher at this stage in the pregnancy, which is 37+ weeks (below left). The baby does appear to be on the small side. As a precautionary measure, a heart film is scheduled before each upcoming OB/GYN visit (below right).

Now that the tv & stereo arrangement has been taken care of by Luna's grandfathers, she gets to watch a movie again before going to sleep. Winnie the Pooh is one of her favorites (row below). After about half an hour of watching the same scenes every night, Luna knows which remote controls she needs to use to turn off the tv and dvd player. What a smart girl!

Mom has a little surprise for Luna when she comes home from the day care center one day. There is a slide in the back yard. As you can see, Luna is very happy with this present (left, right, row below).

On Saturday, March 31, Luna's little brother, Lior, is born. Opa Ben and Oma Alie take care of Luna during labor and bring her over to the hospital to meet Lior. Luna enjoys kissing and hugging her little brother, though has to learn to do so gently (right).

On Sunday, April 1, no joke, Luna gets to welcome her little brother into her home. Luna and mom are very happy with the addition of Lior to their small family (left).

Luna continues to go to the day care center on Wednesdays (above, left). Since Lior is not allowed to go outside yet, Tante Daan kindly offers to pick up Luna (above, middle and right). Once home, Luna receives a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal from Tante Daan, who gets a big hug in return (left). Now Luna is accompanied by her stuffed animal while watching her favorite movie (right).

Aunt Michelle had scheduled to visit Esther-Mirjam and Luna, thinking she would beat Lior to it, but "alas". She brings presents for all three of them. Luna receives a xylophone (below, left) and harmonica (below, right), as well as instructions as to how to use them. Luna is quite intrigued by it all. She also gets to wear Aunt Michelle's lovely hat and play with the feather that decorated the lovely presents (below, middle).

Luna appears to have caught chickenpox (middle right). That is, this is the diagnosis Esther-Mirjam comes up with after consulting Dr. Spock! Luna does not seem to be bothered by it, yet, but continues to make funny faces (far right).

Marianne helps mama, Luna, and Lior in getting adjusted to their new life together. Luna watches her closely as she changes Lior's diaper (far left). And Luna is watched closely by Marianne when she gets to hold Lior on her little lap (middle left). What a good sister Luna is!

Luna gets to try out the new stroller for her and Lior during Easter, when her little brother is allowed to go outside for the first time (right). Luna looks like a little princess on her throne in front of her baby brother.

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Twenty-eight months old!

At the tender age of twenty-eight months, Luna knows all about breastfeeding. While playing with her doll when mom puts on her jammies, she suddenly lifts her shirt and tries to breastfeed her doll (left and right). What a doll Luna is herself!