Hip, Hip, Hurray!

The birthday celebrations continue during our Moon Toddler's thirtyseventh month on Planet Earth. This time, Winnie the Pooh is pictured on her birthday cake (row above, middle). She receives lots of visitors (row above, left), including Isis (row above, right). Isis, the daughter of a colleague of Esther-Mirjam's, is Luna's playmate at the daycare center (top right). Her brother Qiang spends part of the party sleeping in Lior's playpen (bottom right). Opa Ben is also there, which is impressive given that he just had a serious back operation (top left). And Luna is very grateful to Victoria for coming all the way from Spijk with her mom Linda (bottom left). Victoria, Tante Daan, and Luna have fun playing together.

Our little Sun Baby and his big Moon Sister get along very well (row below). Luna loves to give Lior hugs and kisses and the latter is happy to be on the receiving end. It took Luna a little while to get used to having a little brother in her life, but she has adjusted admirably well.

Our Christmas cards are a little delayed, so here is a sneak preview for you, with apologies for the hard copy arriving late!

Luna gets to go to the circus for the second time in her young life (right). This one is special, because it has only four entertainers with a few dogs, horses, and geese. And they all make for a very enjoyable show. That is, perhaps mom likes it even more than her young daughter!

Is this a sneak preview of what Luna will look like in a few years (left)? For now, all you can see is that Luna has gotten a hold of Opa Tano's reading glasses and pretends to use them to read.

While Esther-Mirjam hangs out with Irene, Luna has fun dancing with Iris in the disco at Chimpie Champ (row above). That is, they also get Irene to dance with them. Luna enjoys the ball pit (left) and shows Irene how old she is now (right). Soon, Iris will also turn three years old. The visit to Chimpie Champ was to celebrate both birthdays and catch up on the latest news.

One thing at which Luna excels is sleeping (row below). She usually goes to bed around 7 or 8 PM and during the weekends sometimes sleeps in until 10 or 11 AM. When she gets up early, she takes an afternoon nap, but when she sleeps in, there is no need for her to do so.

Since Luna has two sets of grandparents, it is very fortunate that there are two christmas days in the Netherlands. Luna spends the first with Opa Ben and Oma Alie (far right) and the second with Opa Tano and Oma Naatje (middle right).

Two children fit on one lap, but it is sometimes easier for each to have a lap of one's own (left).

The day after christmas, Luna goes to Amsterdam to hang out with Angeline, Michiel, and their children (row below, middle). Their oldest son, Jan, shows their sweet bird to Luna (row below, left). And Luna gets to hang out with more animals when she goes to Tante Daan and Ome Geert, who have two guinea pigs (row below, right).

Luna gets to spend a whole weekend with Tante Daan and Ome Geert. She is put to work combing Tante Daan's hair (middle right). And she goes to the birthday party of Yentl, another niece of Tante Daan and Ome Geert's, who has lots of toys for Luna to enjoy (far right).

Of course, Luna also visits Tante Daan's horse, Zandor, who is taken for a walk by Luna (far left). What is more, Zandor has now learned to carry people on his back, thanks to Tante Daan's patience, so Luna puts on her aunt's riding cap... (middle left)

...and goes for a ride on beautiful Zandor (middle right). The riding cap does not last very long, but Luna does (far right). Afterwards, she does admit that she thought the whole thing was somewhat exciting. Yet, after having conquered her fears, Luna wants to hang out with Zandor again the next day.

When Opa Ben and Oma Alie come over to take care of Luna and Lior on Tuesdays, they also help mama by going grocery shopping. Luna has recently discovered new joys associated with this task (left).

Even when it is cold outside, the Sent family likes to go for a bike ride (middle right). All that is needed to stay warm is a hat, a scarf, gloves, and a heavy coat (far right). Of course, a sweet smile also helps!

Papa comes over on a regular basis to hang out with Lior and Luna, who have great fun sitting on his lap together (row below).

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Thirtyseven Months Old!

As she turns yet another month older, Luna is not feeling too hot (left and right). She has caught the bug that bothered her little brother earlier. This is the first time in a long time that Luna is sick and she is a real trooper about it.