As our Moon Child enters her thirtyfirst month on Planet Earth, she attends a party at her daycare center. While there, her face is painted to make her look like a princess (row above). The "lipstick" lasts only a few seconds, but mom is just in time with her camera (row above, middle). Luna loves the merry-go-round (left), but is not crazy about the inflatable bouncer (right).

When Angeline and Michiel come over for a visit, they bring a lovely bouquet with one white flower symbolizing mom and two red flowers symbolizing Luna and Lior (far left). This reminds Esther-Mirjam of the fact that Esther means star, Luna moon, and Lior my light (middle left). They make a perfect trio!

When Luna spends a night at Opa Tano and Oma Naatje's, she gets to try new toys, including a tricycle (middle right). And she gets to hang out with one of her friends, Victoria (far right). Her other friends, Ian and Maurice, are grazing in the background!

Luna is quite busy on Father's Day. She visits papa (row above, left), Opa Ben (row above, middle), and Opa Tano (row above, right). Now is she squeezing Lior's arm while sitting on Opa Ben's lap? Sneaky girl! It is up to you to judge whether Luna looks more like Opa Ben (left) or Opa Tano (right).

Little Luna's Logic IV

Esther-Mirjam is trying to explain the concepts of "cold" and "hot" to Luna and tells her that orange juice is cold, while tea is hot (row below). When she asks Luna what milk is, her daughter replies: "Milk is yummy yummy!"

One of the things at which Luna continues to excel is sleeping (left and right). She takes a nap of at least two hours each afternoon and sleeps at least thirteen hours each night. Fortunately, her brother's nightly feedings do not wake her up.

Luna 2.5 years & Lior 2.5 months

Luna loves her little brother (row above). The only thing she does not like is that her mom can no longer devote all her attention to her. Esther-Mirjam is wondering whether hugs and kisses make a baby grow, for Lior is getting bigger and bigger (left and right).

Little Luna's Logic V

Esther-Mirjam and Luna are watching The Little Mermaid II, about Ariel's daughter, Melody. Esther-Mirjam explains to Luna that Ariel is Melody's mama and Melody is Ariel's daughter, that King Triton is Ariel's papa and Ariel is King Triton's daughter, and that King Triton is Melody's opa and Melody is King Triton's granddaughter. She goes on the clarify that Esther-Mirjam is Luna's mama, oma is Esther-Mirjam's mama, and Luna is oma's granddaughter. She also explains that Esther-Mirjam is Lior's mama and Lior is Esther-Mirjam's son. When she asks Luna what Luna is of mama, Luna replies: "Luna is mama's snoopy poopie."

Luna goes to gym for toddlers one last time for now. It starts up again in September. Opa Tano joins her as everyone is welcomed (far left) and helps her on the obstacle course for wheels (middle left).

At the gym, Luna learned to jump and loves to practice her newly acquired skills (right). She now jumps too fast for her mom's camera!

Everyone has to hold to a big tent, so Opa Tano and Luna do so as well (top left). The tent is used to throw balls in the air (middle left). And all the toddlers easily fit underneath is (bottom left). Opa Tano keeps a watchful eye over Luna as she shows him that she can climb (top right), slide (middle right), and pull (bottom right). Boy, those toddlers are really put to work! In all seriousness, Luna's motor skills have developed tremendously as a result of gym for toddlers. Also, it has helped her confidence a lot. And this helps mom be more confident about Luna managing the world around her.

The session is finished with a song about hands and fingers, with Opa and Luna participating actively (below left). When the equipment is put away by the (grand)parents, the children wait patiently for them to finish (below middle). Incidentally, it is a coincidence that Luna is off all by herself (below right). Mom put her there in a hurry. Take it easy, mom!

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Luna does her first poo-poo on the potty. Esther-Mirjam tries to get Luna to sit on her potty whenever her diaper gets changed (below left). Luna usually goes pee-pee, and checks out what she has produced this time (below middle). Lo and behold, she finds that she has gone poo-poo on her potty (below right). Mom is sooo excited and proud of her big girl. Indeed, the next important potty-training steps have been taken.

Now that their toddlers are quite mobile, the women from Esther-Mirjam's birthing class decide to have a reunion at a playground this time. Luna, Iris, Mila, and Sarah jump on the trampoline (far left), and Luna goes for a ride with Wessel (middle left).

Luna likes to hang out with especially Iris, the daughter of Irene. The two curly-haired girls jump on the trampoline (middle right) and have a good chat at the table (far right).

After all this excitement, Luna needs to rest a little (far left) and re-energize herself with french fries (middle left). Little as she may eat on occasion, she never leaves any french fries for her mom!

When Luna gets the, dare we admit, second haircut in her young life, mom brings her camera, but forgets that she has taken the card out of it to upload pictures to her computer. Esther-Mirjam makes up for this with a little photo shoot of her freshly groomed daughter afterwards (row above). After a while, her beautiful daughter gets tired of mom taking pictures and starts making funny faces (left and right).

Yippee! Luna's girlfriend Victoria comes over for a visit. Better yet, she brings a puzzle as a present (left). Victoria is the neighbor of Opa Tano and Oma Naatje and she is ten years old. Yet, she loves to play with our two-year-old Moon Child (right). The two are very happy to see each other again.

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Thirtyone months old!

On her monthday, Luna gets to hang out in mama's bed with her little brother. She loves to hug and kiss him (top row). Lior much prefers his thumb (left). In the end, he manages to tire out his youngest sister (right).