Our Sun Child's birthday celebrations continue as he enters his first year on Planet Earth. A special birthday hat awaits Lior when he goes to daycare center Heyendael, but he is not crazy about wearing it (row above, left). There is also a lovely drawing on the window (row above, right). Lior does enjoy the big birthday cake (row above, middle). At first, the children get musical instruments to accompany themselves while singing birthday songs for our birthday boy (left). Then Lior gets to hand out the special treats that his mom made for the children, Marjolein, and Heike (right). That is, Luna does a wonderful job lending her younger brother a hand!

During the reunion of Esther-Mirjam's birthing class, Lior falls in love with Iris, the daughter of Irene (row below, left). He also enjoys playing with the toys at Chimpie Champ (row below, middle). And when his youngest sister is tired of all the fun, Lior continues to crawl around enthusiastically (row below, right).

Lior gets to spend a weekend with Opa Tano and Oma Naatje, who let him ride on a tricycle (row below, left). He suddenly looks so much older when doing so, eh? When Lior eats a cookie in the playpen, the dog Timo watches closely for any parts that may fall on the floor (row below, middle). Lior is happy to play with Timo while outside of his playpen (row below, right).

Our young man loves to hang out in his playpen, sometimes sitting down and sometimes standing up to see what is happening around him (row below). One thing he has to watch out for is his youngest sister trying to play with his toys (row below, middle). In fact, Luna seems to prefer Lior's toys and vice versa!

Now that our young man no longer has any resctrictions on his diet, he gets to enjoy delicious sausage (row below). As you can see, he is very happy with this change! Incidentally, the doctor has prescribed a new ointment for Lior's rash and hopefully this will do the trick!

Now that Lior is able to stand up, he has discovered that the keys of the piano are within reach...

...as well as the remote controls, the water in the toilet, the telephone, and lots of other fun items!

When the weather turns spring-like, Lior visits De Apenheul, a zoo with monkeys, in Apeldoorn (far left). He gets to admire the small ones from the comfort of the baby carrier on Lenneke's front (middle left).

Lior watches the others from the comfort of his stroller, looking over the shoulder of Luna (middle right). He stays awake during most of the visit and only falls asleep after having counted many monkies (far right).

Lior is very lucky that a baby gorilla was born the night before (far left). Lenneke and papa are very lucky that they get to admire Lior's pole dancing skills (middle left). All in all, he spends a special day with the monkeys.

Lior gets to visit Den Haag and Scheveningen yet again. This time it is to visit Pépin and his family (right). Esther-Mirjam and Pépin used to study together in Amsterdam. Pépin is now married to Marloes and the proud papa of Maxim and Quinten. Unfortunartely, Quinten is gone all day. Fortunately, Lior still gets to play with his toys. He loves the opportunity to try all kinds of new toys! Overall, he travels so well, sleeping in the car and being a good boy at the point of destination.

Spring is in the air! And this calls for a lovely bike ride through the Wijchense, Hatertse & Overasseltse Vennen. Lior enjoys it all from the comfort of the bike trailer (far left). That is, his sister sitting next to him sometimes makes for a not so comfortable ride when she tries to squeeze Lior's hands (middle left).

Our young man continues to be a very happy baby (row below). The silliest things make him laugh. In fact, his sister Luna makes him laugh the most. He constantly observes her with much interest.

Imagine what it is like never to have eaten an egg! This is what happens to our young man. He points to the egg and says "die, die" as he enjoys doing (row below, left). Next, he tries what the egg would feel like if it were a hat (row below, middle). And only after an extensive inspection is he willing to give the egg a try (row below, right).

Lior has very expressive hands. They are very good at playing peek-a-boo (row below, left). Lior also uses them to clarify that he has not heard what his mom is saying (row below, middle). And he is starting to learn how to count using his fingers (row below, right).

Lior is very lucky to have a young sister who is more than happy to share her cookie with him (far left) and shows how happy he is about this (middle left). He is not so lucky when she pushes him away, causing him to take a tumble.

Lior is turning into a young man who understands more and more of the world around him. He loves to wave bye-bye when looking out the window (middle right). And when you give him his brush, he immediately starts brushing his hair (far right). That is, he tries to make the moves, but does not yet have the proper fine motor skills!

When Lior wants something he points his little index finger and says "die, die" (far left). When his mom tells him not to play with the plants, he pretends not to understand what she is saying (middle left).

Lior is a real boy in that he loves to play with cars. While saying "tuut, tuut" he moves them around the entire room (middle right). And he is quite pleased with his ability to move around so quickly (far right). Indeed, he is a very agile young man.

Lior is now old enough to go down the slide (row below). That is, he only does so while sitting on his young sister's lap and under the watchful eye of Opa Tano!

Mom has her hands full with Luna and Lior, but she does not mind this at all (row below). To the contrary! Luna loves her little brother, as long as she gets plenty of attention herself!

Hip, Hip, Hurray!
Thirteen months old!

The Queen celebrates her birthday on the same day as Lior has his thirteenth monthday. Albert carries Lior on his back to the festivities in the Goffert Park (middle right), which do not interest Lior all that much (far right)!