As she enters her thirtysecond month on Planet Earth, our Moon Toddler goes shopping with little brother Lior and big sister Aafke (middle right). She much prefers walking to sitting in the stroller. This allows her to stop every few meters to check out the stones, flowers, leaves, and so on. As a result, a short walk can take a looooong time! Luna helps out by carrying her own things in her backpack (far right).

Luna likes to imitate her mom by reading a book to her brother (far left). While the two are hanging out on mama's bed, some 40,000 walkers participate in Nijmegen's Four Day March, which is the world's largest walking event. Walkers must complete distances that range from 30 to 50 kilometers per day, depending on age and gender. Luna and Lior wish them luck!

Luna goes on vacation to Duinrell (left), an amusement park in Wassenaar, joined by her mom, Lior, Lenneke, Aafke, Sanne, Lotte, Ruben, and Malissa, a friend of Lotte's. She spends a week in a Happy Camp mobile home (right).

While mom, dressed in red, enjoys the Mad Mill (row above, left) and Water Spin (row above, right), Lenneke, Sanne, and Aafke go in the flying carousel (row above, middle). After having waited patiently (left), Luna gets to go in the train with Ruben (right).

Ruben and Luna also go in a mini merry-go-round (far left). Strangely, this thing scares Luna a little, unlike the rabbit rollercoaster in which she goes! The merry-go-round has room for Aafke, Lior, Ruben, mama, and Luna (middle left).

When mama wonders what happened to Lior, she finds that he went into the merry-go-round again with Aafke and Sanne (middle right). Luna also enjoys going round and round on the back of the horse (far right).

Most meals are enjoyed outside (far left). One time it starts raining during breakfast, causing a big rush to get inside the mobile home (middle left). While the group has two mobile homes, they usually all hang out in one, making for somewhat tight quarters.

It rains on occasion (row above, left), but most of the time the weather is great (row above, right). When outside, the group is accompanied by a resident butterfly (row above, middle). Luna learns all about cool music from Lenneke (left), and Lior gets lots of cuddles from Sanne during the vacation (right).

When the group enjoys a dinner at a pancake restaurant (far left), Lior sleeps through the entire meal (middle left). Everybody takes turns going shopping and preparing meals, with mom using Lior's breastfeeding as an excuse to skip out on the chores on occasion.

As it turns out, Sanne is the only one who eats pancakes, with the others enjoying mussels and steaks. Luna gets a "kids' meal" (middle right) and a piece of paper with some pencils (far right).

Luna has her personal assistant, with Ruben changing her diaper, combing her hair, and giving her a bath (row above). Ruben is also great at changing his brother's diaper (left). The latter is bathed by his sister Lotte, under the watchful eyes of Ruben and Lenneke (right).

One day, bicycles, a child seat, and a bike trailer are rented for a trip to the beach in Wassenaar and through the dunes to Katwijk (right). Unfortunately, mom has forgotten to bring Luna's bike helmet and none can be rented. Fortunately, Lenneke is very careful while biking with Luna, besides teaching her a few swearwords along the way!

Sanne's sunglasses shield not only Lior's face from the sun, but pretty much his entire face (far left). If you look carefully, you can see Luna, mama, and Lenneke reflected in the glasses. Luna and Ruben are trying to decide whether to go for a swim (middle left).

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The bags are packed, the mobile homes are cleaned, and the amusement park is enjoyed for one last time before returning home.

Once back home, Luna is happy to have all her toys again, while Lior needs to get used to not having so many loving siblings around. He hopes to see them again sometime very soon.

When Oma Naatje comes over for a visit, Luna finally gets to paint mama's windows (row below). Oma Naatje is very artistic and Esther-Mirjam is grateful that Luna gets to benefit from her influence. Indeed, everybody is Luna's tight circle of family and friends has something special to contribute to little Luna's life. Perhaps the most important contribution is the love that Luna receives!

Oma Alie and Opa Ben come over to help with the care of Luna and Lior once a week. Fortunately, Oma Alie's lap is big enough for Lior, Luna, and "Luna's baby" (below left). As if Esther-Mirjam is not changing enough diapers as it is, Luna asks her for help with the diaper of her "baby." Opa Ben and Oma Alie take Luna shopping and put her to work with the bag full of groceries (below middle). If kisses make one grow, this may explain why Lior is turning into such a big boy (below right).

When the weather turns nice (again), Luna hangs out in her outside bath (again) (row below). Her mom finally lets her play with the bubblebath bodypaint that Luna got from Jeanne a long time ago. While lots of it ends up in the grass and on the stones, Luna also turns herself into a beautiful drawing!

Luna and Lior visit Aafke to admire her new housing. They love the garden and the boats that pass by (below middle). While in Utrecht, Luna and Lior go to the Dick Bruna Museum (below left). Dick Bruna is the "papa" of Nijntje (Miffy), one of Luna's favorite cartoon characters. After a fun-filled day, Luna and Lior are both sound asleep by the time they return to Nijmegen (below right).

Luna and Lior visit Lenneke to congratulate her on her birthday and to admire her new digs. Luna greets Lenneke with a kiss (left) and together they repeat the "Duinrell yell": "Everybody happy? Yeah!" (right).

After many viewings of The Little Mermaid II, the current DVD of choice in the Sent home is Babe, thanks to a generous gift by Aafke (middle right). Aafke is trying to convince Luna not to eat meat, which is a tough endeavor! Even Lior and Luna's baby join the nightly after-dinner DVD watching (far right).

Luna loves animals, including Timo, Opa Tano and Oma Naatje's dog (left). Fortunately, Timo does not mind being hugged and kissed by Luna. He even lets her pretend that he's a horse. All Luna needs to learn is that not all dogs are as gentle as Timo is!

On a sunny Saturday morning, Esther-Mirjam decides that she would like to visit Het Land van Jan Klaassen, an amusement park designed for young children (row above, left). She calls Opa Ben and Oma Alie, who are happy to come along. As the sign reads, chewing gum, raisins, and parents who are boring ("vervelende ouders") are not allowed (row above, right). Instead, children are treated like little princes and princesses (row above, middle). The see-saw is one of Luna's favorites (left, top). Esther-Mirjam quite enjoys her daughter's efforts to look like a Dutch farm girl (left, middle). And mom is busy playing with not only Luna, but also a "stray boy" who asks her for some help (left, bottom). Luna also puts her mom to work on the bicycle with trailer (right, top). Of course, a visit to an amusement park would not be complete without french fries and mayo (right, middle). Luna is intrigued by the puppet show (right, bottom). She is also quite facinated (row below, left) by the ghost (row below, middle). Finally, the trampoline is good for jumping away all her worries (row below, right).

Tired of having to change diapers day in day out, Esther-Mirjam asks Ruben to come over to help (left). Just kidding! Of course, Ruben is welcome to come and visit without having to change any diapers. Luna loves joking around with Ruben.

Little Luna's Box of Tricks

Little Luna is trying to make her mom do exactly what she wants. How can one blame her for at least trying, eh? She is especially good at trying to manipulate Esther-Mirjam when it is time to go to bed. This time, mom catches Luna in some logical errors, though. At the start of dinner, Esther-Mirjam usually blows on Luna's food to make sure it is not hot. Towards the end of the meal, she tells Luna that she has to go to bed after dinner. Luna then asks her mom to blow on her food again, because it has become hot again (right)!

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Thirtytwo months old!

Little Luna is not so little anymore. In fact, her tall body no longer fits into her mom's pictures (left). There is just enough room for her little face (right).