Little Luna's fifth month gets off to a not-so-great start! That is, Luna will start going to day care on Mondays and Wednesdays. Opa Tano and Oma Naatje babysit on Tuesdays, Oma Alie and Opa Ben take care of Luna on Thursdays, and Esther-Mirjam works at home on Fridays. Luna's mom spends most of the trial visit to the day care center, Kinderdagverblijf Heyendael (right), crying. It seems harder on her than on her daughter to make the adjustment.

Luna will join de Rainbow Group at the day care center. Luna is the youngest, but has the company of three other babies on Monday and one other on Wednesday.

Little Luna has to get used to yet another bed, where she comforts herself by sticking her fingers in her mouth and chatting to herself. She has such a lovely voice!

Luna continues to entertain her family fan club with a wide variety of funny faces. Whenever she treats the members to one of her lovely smiles, she gets a big smile in return. Such joy she is bringing into all of our lives!

Luna winks.

Luna chats.

Luna relaxes.

Luna sneezes.

Luna smiles.

Luna boxes.

For the second time in her young life, Luna gets to fly, now to Raleigh/Durham in the United States. She accompanies her mom, who has a conference at Duke University, along with a "nanny," Tante Irma. Luna yet again confirms her Super Baby status by proving to be a very relaxed traveler.

On the Boeing 777, Luna sleeps in a special bassinet (sp?) that is attached to the wall. Once she is used to it, she falls into a deep sleep to wake up only when she is hungry.

Luna makes herself at home in the Millennium Hotel near Duke University, where she spends her time eating in Tante Irma's arms (left), sleeping with a few familiar toys around her (middle), and bathing in the big tub (right).

Luna visits no less than three airports in one day, though sleeps through much of the experience. Her journey home starts in Raleigh/Durham (left), involves a layover at Gatwick, London (middle), and ends in Amsterdam (right). What a good baby Luna has been during the entire trip! How grateful and lucky her mom is!

Would you believe that some people who first see her believe that Luna is a boy? Perhaps her mom should dress her exclusively in pretty pink. An alternative solution is the headband pictured below! Yet, Esther-Mirjam would rather have people be confused than Luna wear a silly headband.

Bathing and swimming continue to be two of Luna's favorite activities. Perhaps this is proof that there is water on the moon? Luna would have been an Aquarius if she had been born when her mom expected her, during the full moon on January 25, 2005. (She is a Sagittarius instead.) And her mom is a Pisces, which may also have something to do with Luna's love for water. Also, there are many life guards in Opa Tano's family, starting with Opa Tano's father. Luna now barely fits into the tummy tub that seemed so big when Luna had just come home, so has moved up to a baby bath (top row). Safe in the hands of her mother, Luna enjoys the sights and sounds of the swimming pool (bottom row).

Luna gets to celebrate her very first Queen's Day, which is a national holiday in the Netherlands that is observed on April 30. It started as a celebration of the Dutch monarchy. The color orange is a common sight on Queen's day, as it represents the House of Orange, which is the name of the current Dutch dynasty. Luna dresses in orange for the occasion and poses in front of the Dutch flag (middle). As is not uncommon, Luna spends most of the day smiling at everybody and everything (left and right).

Our Moon Baby enjoys spending time on her mom's bed, resting on her moon pillow (middle). When putting her fingers in her mouth, she tells lots of tall tales (left and right). If you want to hear Luna's chipper chatter and lovely voice, you shall have to come and visit her!

Curious about Luna's lovely voice, Tante Daphne and her children come over for a visit. Her daughter Nouchka and Luna love to cuddle with each other (top left), while her son Sebastiaan and Luna have some fun together (top right). Luna gets lots of attention when she drinks her bottle (bottom left) and decides she would much rather suck her thumb instead (bottom right).

Luna digs through her clothes closet to find a dress to celebrate no fewer than three birthdays on May 6: Tante Daniëlle, Ome Geert, and Ome Dennis. Unfortunately, she cannot visit them all, so owes the latter a visit. Her mom thinks that Luna looks especially adorable in the yellow dress (middle). Tante Daniëlle and Luna share some laughs (left), while Ome Geert and his niece have a good talk (right). Ome Geert is studying to become a medical doctor and is helping Luna's mom with lots of excellent advice.

To illustrate how much Luna has grown in her young life, we thought we would take a few pictures of Luna in the tummy tub. During her first month on Planet Earth, our Moon Baby fit horizontally in the tummy tub, as you can see in the picture taken then. During her fifth month amidst her family fan club, Luna barely fits vertically in the tummy tub, as you can see in the pictures below.

And after her comfy bath, Luna loves to hang out on her changing table, where she enjoys staring at and talking to herself in the mirror (middle). That is, when she is hungry, Luna prefers not to spend too much time getting dressed. Other than that, she usually shares lots of laughs while lying down on her changing table.

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Five months old!

On her fifth Month Day, Luna crosses the 6,000 grams (13.2 US pounds) mark. What a big girl she is becoming!

Poor Luna has to lie amidst garlands and wear a silly hat only because her mom is so excited that Luna has reached yet another milestone in her young existence! Our Moon Baby is doing very well on Planet Earth, adjusting rapidly to its strange customs and habits.