Our Moon Baby continues to make rapid progress. She is quickly turning into a tiny human being with a very special personality. Luna has mastered yet another skill, which is to turn her head from side to side when someone says "no" or the Dutch equivalent "nee" to her. She usually gets a big smile on her face and starts shaking her head vigorously. This is too much for the photo camera to handle, which is why we have to confess that we staged the series below. Luna's mom shall try to capture the adorable head shaking of her baby on video to share it with you.

Luna has grown so much that she can stick her toe in her mouth (left) and gets to sleep in a crib rather than a cradle (bottom row). She is still small enough to sleep in people's arms as well (right). If there is one thing that Luna does very well, it is sleeping. Her mom cannot remember the last time Luna woke up at night.

Luna loves to lie on a blanket and play with Opa Ben (left) or the dog Tjubka (right). Rather than reading Dr. Seuss's Circus McGurkus, Luna much prefers to look for the label on the book (bottom row).

The latest trick in Luna's toolkit involves clicking her tongue. As you can see, it entertains the little lady as much as the delighted members of her family fan club! She can combine clicking her tongue and clapping her hands, but has not yet tried to turn her head at the same time. Considering the rate at which she is mastering new skills, Luna is bound to be able to do this very soon.

Little Luna gets to fly to the United States for the second time in her young life. This time the purpose is to visit her (mom's) home away from home in Michiana. Luna loves to watch the world go by while hanging in (middle) and chewing on (left) the baby carrier. Luna and her mom luck out by having three seats available to them, which allows Luna to sleep in her car seat (right) and on the floor as well. She is a real trooper during the entire flight, though she finds it hard to go to sleep with all the excitement around her. She much prefers to entertain her fellow passengers by clapping her hands, shaking "no," and chatting about da-da and gu-gu and pff-pff. As a result of the air pressure changes and her lingering ear problems, Luna has a bit of a rough first night in the United States, but adjusts quickly after that.

About two thirds of the suitcase is taken up by things for the young lady (left). However, that is not enough to keep her fed and clothed for the entire trip, which is why Luna gets to sit in a big shopping cart (middle) so her mom can pick up the additional items (right). The two have fun noticing the differences between the United States and the Netherlands. To name just one, most shopping carts in the Netherlands are not big enough to fit an entire car seat into them.

Luna goes to Lula's to have an iced chai tea, which is, sadly, not available in the Netherlands, with a (former) graduate student from the University of Notre Dame, Eddie (left). She is not sure she likes having so much sun in her face. That evening, her mom's former colleagues have a lovely gathering at Tom's house (right). "Uncle Tom" has a very nice "cabin" in Michigan, on a lake along which Luna gets to take a very nice stroll.

Luna visits Pet Refuge, where her mom used to spend a lot of her time (left). Yet, she seems more interested in the luggage label attached to her cat seat. Luna's mom had at one point considered flying over her furry friend from Pet Refuge, Midnight (middle). Unfortunately, Midnight does not get along with small children (right), because he had a rough time when he was a "child" himself.

Luna loves to hang out with Lauri Roberts and her family, which includes her husband Kelly, her daughter Anna, and her son Campbell (left). Out of these, Campbell is clearly her favorite. Whenever she sees him running around, she gets a big smile on her face. And after all this excitement, it is hard for our little baby to stay awake (right). It has taken our Moon Child very little time to adjust to the time change. What a super girl!

When Esther-Mirjam worked at the University of Notre Dame, her office window looked out on the lawn on which people would take have pictures of themselves taken in front of "Touchdown Jesus," usually with their arms raised. Now, she is the one taking a picture of her daughter in front of the famous mosaic (left). Luna does not find the Golden Dome of the Main Building interesting enough to stay awake (right). Fortunately, she does find Aunt Kerry to be very entertaining (middle). Her mom and Aunt Kerry were fellow graduate students at Stanford University and both ended up in Indiana, where Aunt Kerry teaches at De Pauw University. She very kindly made a very long drive from Greencastle, Indiana to meet up with Luna and her mom at Notre Dame. Luna wears the Stanford Cardinal outfit she got from Aunt Kerry for the occasion.

Luna has a delicious lunch at the home of Griet and Luc (left). The two are from Belgium and used to be part of the Dutch-Flemish group for which Esther-Mirjam would arrange a social gathering whenever whe felt especially homesick. Tom Scheiding defends his dissertation during Esther-Mirjam's visit to Notre Dame (middle). During his defense, his girlfriend Brooke and their dog Tuk baby sit little Luna. Phil is also on Tom's dissertation committee (right). He also served on Esther-Mirjam's dissertation committee and became a very good colleague to her afterwards. She misses his never-ending enthusiasm and is delighted to be able to catch up with him while hanging out on his porch overlooking a golf course.

Luna loves to spend the night at Amy's, where she enjoys the company of Amy's son, Finn (left and right). Finn teaches her to point at the camera and to clap hands. Of course, Luna already knows the latter and loves to show everybody that she does. Tracy and Amy are very dear friends of Luna's mom. They showered her with very many generous gifts during her last visit. This time Esther-Mirjam can return the favor, because Tracy and Amy are both pregnant (middle).

Luna gets to meet so many lovely ladies ... and gentlemen! Pictured here are Juli (top left), who is the secrerary of the Department of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Notre Dame and used to go out for a smoke with Luna's mom when the latter still smoked. Luna has lots of fun meeting Pennie, who is a Pet Refuge volunteer, amongst others (top middle and right). Pennie very generously organized a baby shower during Esther-Mirjam's previous visit to the Michiana area. Luna and Tori sure look like a lovely pair (left). She is Phil's (see above) secretary and has two adorable daughters. Esther-Mirjam felt very awkward shopping for presents for these girls. So much has changed since then! Luna and Esther-Mirjam spend the night at the house of Harolyn and Amitava (right), where our Moon Baby wears pyjamas that were a present from Tori. Amitava is a former colleague from Luna's mom. He and his wife also shower Luna with generous presents and lots of love.

Luna spends about 90 minutes in the car, which is a record for her, driving to Chicago. While there, she goes to the Toulouse-Lautrec & Montmartre exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute. When she reaches the Picasso paintings, she decides that she has had enough. After a short break, she falls asleep so her mom eventually can quietely stroll through the entire show. Uncle John joins Luna and her mom in Chicago (middle). He teaches at Marquette University as well as the University of Amsterdam. Luna gets to stay at the Palmer House Hilton (right). Uh oh, she is getting spoiled already!

Luna has lunch with Sandra, whom her mom knows from Pet Refuge. Sandra and Esther-Mirjam used to be jointly responsible for the Pet Refuge website, which is when Esther-Mirjam learned the skills that she now uses to update her daughter's website. In the process, the two webmasters became very good friends. Luna loves to hang out on Sandra's lap (left), show her that she can laugh with her eyes (middle), and wink at her mom (right).

Luna makes another visit to Lula's, now to have lunch with Don, who is the driving force behind the History and Philosophy of Science program at the University of Notre Dame (left). That is, Luna sleeps through most of the lunch. During their entire visit, Luna and Esther-Mirjam enjoy the very generous hospitality of Jennifer and David of the Department of Economics and Policy Studies at Notre Dame (right). Jennifer does a wonderful job chairing the department.

Opa Ben and Oma Alie greet Luna and Esther-Mirjam at the airport in Amsterdam, after a plane ride during which Luna yet again proves herself to be a very relaxed traveler. That is, they say hi to Luna first and notice her mom later <grin>! Opa Ben and Oma Alie are very happy to have their granddaughter back in the Netherlands (middle). And Luna is very happy to see them, giving them her Marilyn Monroe imitation (left) and sharing a big smile (right).

After flying to the United States, it took Luna very little time to adjust to the time change. Upon returning to the Netherlands, Luna is having a harder time getting into her rhythm of going to sleep around 8 PM and waking up around 8 AM. She wakes up a few times the first few nights and is very sleepy during the mornings. The night of August 30 is the first that Luna and Esther-Mirjam spend away from each other because mom has a workshop in Groningen the next day. This makes her wake up a few times at night wondering why she is not sensing her daughter nearby.

Hanging out with her grandparents is helping Luna to get back into her routine. Opa Tano and Oma Naatje come over to be with Luna on Tuesdays and Opa Ben and Oma Alie take care of her on Thursdays, while also helping out when Esther-Mirjam has commitments such as the workshop in Groningen, her ballet class on Tuesday evenings, and so on. How lucky she and her daughter are to be able to rely on such wonderful support. Luna sure loves to hang out with her grandparents, flashing smiles (left), playing with Opa Ben (middle), and clapping her hands (right).

Some people have raised the suspicion that Luna's website only shows the happy side of our Moon Baby. The truth is, though, that there is no unhappy side to share with you. Of course, our little lady is not perfect. As an illustration, here is a video clip of Luna not clapping her hands when "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" is sung to her.
Click here to watch the clip.

Note: You can watch the clip with the free QuickTime player.
Click here to download QuickTime for Windows. (In Dutch.)
Click here to download QuickTime for MAC. (In Dutch.)
Warning: The clip file is large!

A sunny afternoon in the garden gives Luna an opportunity to work on her fine motor skills. It also gives her mom an opportunity to show that Luna's hair is starting to have soft curls.

Luna is really too big for her pram now (middle), and needs to employ a trick to enable her to fit into it (left and right).

The reason that Luna had trouble sleeping the first nights after her return from the United States can be seen here: Luna has her first tooth! It is located in the bottom right side of her mouth. Our Moon Baby tries to hide it with her lips and tongue, but her mom finds out anyway (top row). She likes to touch the tooth with her tongue and it is making her drool (middle row). The appearance of the tooth adds another fun activity to Luna's daily routine, which is brushing her tooth (bottom row). She catches on so quickly. Good girl!

What does a day with Opa Ben and Oma Alie look like? The photos here, courtesy of these grandparents, give a partial impression. After having gone swimming with her mom, Luna enjoys a bath (left), after which Oma Alie dries her off and curls her hair (right). Luna loves to eat bread with cream cheese, especially when Opa Ben feeds her (bottom row). Continued...

After having finished her entire slice of bread, Luna gets a bottle (left) and then it is time for Opa Ben and Oma Alie to have something to drink themselves, which they do at an outdoor terrace (right). Luna loves to hang out on Opa Ben's lap. He is trying to get her to eat her big toe, but Luna much prefers his necklace (bottom row). Actually, his glasses are her favorite!

Luna visits Tante Daniëlle and Ome Geert (bottom), whom she shows that she is almost strong enough to stand up by herself (left and right). After having admired the new house of her aunt and uncle, Luna ends up spending about two hours sleeping in her pack 'n play. Some visitor Luna is, eh?

Hip, Hip, Hurray! Nine months old!

Luna celebrates her ninth Month Day with Oma Naatje and Opa Tano. To be honest, the celebration happens to be on the day that these grandparents have baby sitting duty anyway. Still, they are happy to oblige with the celebratory hats. Luna seems less eager to oblige! She will soon figure out how to pull the hat off her head before her mom can take a picture. On her ninth Month Day, Luna gets her second tooth. The quick changes are making her a little restless. Poor baby!