Luna has made great progress
in a month's time. She can now eat solid foods from a spoon, holding
it by herself. Or perhaps the mess this leaves should not be considered
progress, eh? Also, Luna seems to like only two of the fruits and veggies
that have been prepared for her: carrots and brown beans with apples.
With a little patience, more are sure to follow. Meanwhile, Luna gives
her mom the opportunity for lots of adorable "Kodak moments"! |
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Turning seven months old also means being allowed
to eat bread. Luna seems to dislike this change in her diet less than
the fruit and veggies she gets served on a daily basis.  |
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Luna's mom has upgraded the hosting package of this website so she
can occasionally share video clips of her sweet baby. The first one
is of Luna laughing and makes Esther-Mirjam so happy whenever she
looks at it. She hopes it has the same effect on you! Incidentally,
there was no tickling involved to get Luna to laugh this loud. All
it took was a mom bouncing up and down and jumping from side to side.
Esther-Mirjam was happy to oblige, of course!
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Luna visits the hospital for the seventh time in her young life. First, she was born there. Second and third, she went there twice in an effort to get her to breast feed. Fourth and fifth, she had two follow-up appointments to check on the heart murmur that is now gone. Sixth, she accompanied her mom when the latter had a routine follow-up appointment herself with her OB/GYN. The seventh visit is to have x-rays taken of Luna's hips. A very friendly doctor's assistant holds our moon baby (left). The young lady is a real trooper the whole time. She also poses in her stroller/bicycle trailer in front of signs that bear the hospital's name (right). ... And the great news is that there is no sign of hip problems. Yippee! |
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The city of Nijmegen, Luna's
home town, is famous for its International Four Day March, which is
the world's largest walking event. It is held each July, except in the
case of a world war. Over 40,000 walkers participate each year, with
many military groups and civilians from all over the world. Walkers
must complete distances that range from 30 to 50 kilometers per day,
depending on age and gender. In anticipation of participating in the
event, Luna tries to decide which shoes would work best.
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Luna earns a swimming certificate
because she can now: (1) go under water completely; (2) float on her
back while her mom holds her head; (3) fetch toys that float in the
water; and (4) fall into her mom's hands from a floating mat. What a
good girl! She also earns an inflatable hippopotamus and a balloon.
To be honest, going under water is not Luna's favorite activity. After
each try, she informs her mom of her displeasure loud and clear! |
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More images of Luna's visit to the NIAS a few months
ago just arrived in the mail. (The quality is not great because they
were subsequently scanned.) Pictured on the right are a former NIAS
staff member, Jaklien, and her daughter, Marieke. The latter is a little
older than Luna. Esther-Mirjam and her daughter paid them a short visit
after the reception at the NIAS. Poor Luna had had such an exhausting
day that she fell asleep in her mom's arms during the visit, as you
can see in the image on the left. |
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Moons appear to be having
a strange habit of multiplying in the surroundings of our Miss Moon! |
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Here is another video clip
of our Moon Baby. In this one Luna performs a variety of skills: chatting,
rolling onto her back, rolling back onto her tummy, sucking her thumb,
pulling her sock, and ignoring her mom behind the camera. And she accomplishes
all these feats in less than 40 seconds. What a super baby!
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Luna is now strong enough
to sit in her high chair at the table. She seems quite pleased with
her achievement. A small problem is that she is not quite big enough
yet! That is, her head barely reaches above the table. Still, she suddenly
seems so much bigger than before. |
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Inspired by the professional pictures
that were taken of her little darling, Esther-Mirjam has mastered a
new skill, the result of which you can see here. Luna is not so sure
she likes this new tool of her mom's. She is wondering in how many silly
outfits she will have to pose before her mom grows tired of the trick! |
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 When the weather is nice, Luna gets to hang out in the garden on a big blanket because she manages to cover quite some ground when rolling around. As you can see, Luna loves to "read" her book. That is, she usually chews on it. "Worse", she seems to have a preference for the label that is attached to the book. In fact, she looks for the labels on all her toys for some good chewing. |
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 As the pictures may convey, Luna has a very relaxed temperament. Whether she is visiting people, going to daycare, singing songs with her grandparents, or playing by herself, Luna is almost always a happy girl. She goes to sleep without any complaints, sleeps through the nights, and entertains herself by chatting when she wakes up in the morning. What more can a mom ask for? |
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Luna has learned yet another trick,
which is to clap her hands when someone sings "If you're happy
and you know it, clap your hands" or the Dutch equivalent "Klap
eens in je handjes." She usually has a big smile on her face that
shows how proud she is of her achievement. Luna has also mastered eating
solids. She eagerly opens her mouth and diligently chews her food. Unfortunately,
pictures of a baby who is eating neatly are not as much fun as those
of a little lady making a big mess! |
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Now that Luna is becoming more mobile, her mom is
encountering a new problem when it comes to taking close-up pictures
of her darling daughter. That is, our Moon Baby finds the camera lens
very interesting and is determined to grab it! In fact, the lovely ladies
who take care of Luna at the day care center have commented on how mobile
Luna is compared to other babies of her age. |
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Not having that many men
in her life, besides her (wonderful) grandfathers and a few uncles,
Luna goes to Amsterdam to watch the Gay Pride Canal Parade. However,
her eye is caught by a spectacular boat with a naked woman on top (left).
Many supplies are needed for Luna's weekend outing to Amsterdam (below
left). And this is not everything, for Luna's car seat, pack 'n play,
and stroller are not pictured here. In the end, though, Luna finds the
Gay Pride Canal Parade not all that exciting (below right). She falls
asleep in her baby carrier. Our poor Moon Baby also has a pretty bad
cold, which may have something to do with her dozing off.
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Luna has been rather fortunate when
it comes to being sick, but this cold is hitting her pretty hard. She
has a constant runny nose and you are lucky we are sparing you the looks
of her diapers! Fortunately, Luna does not let the cold interfere with
her good spirits.  |
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Miss Moon sure looks pretty in ... orange! She seems
quite excited about the possibility of going dancing in her bell bottom
pants. Let's go disco! |
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As if the cold is not enough
already, Luna is also hit by a mid-ear infection. She keeps touching
her right ear (left), which prompts Oma Alie to ask the doctor about
it. He prescribes antibiotics (middle). And these make a sleepy monkey
out of little Luna (right). The infection also explains the messy diapers
Luna has been producing. Our poor baby's tender cheeks are all red as
a result. Let us hope that Luna has made a full recovery by the time
she flies to the United States next week!
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Hip, Hip, Hurray! Eight months old! When Luna visits the Youth Health Bureau, she weighs in at 7575 grams (16.7 US pounds), which is just a little below average, and measures 69 centimeters (27.17 inches), which is also a little below average. Luna is praised for her ability to entertain herself and her relaxed temperament. |
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Here comes the hat again. Yet, Luna
seems more interested in looking at the dog than the camera. Unfortunately,
the garlands can no longer be used, because Luna likes to eat them.
Fortunately, she is also doing very well eating her solids. The next
step is trying to get her to drink out of a cup. The challenges just
keep coming! |