Upon entering his ninth
month on Planet Earth, our Sun Baby gets to spend a weekend at his sister
Aafke's in Utrecht (row below, middle). His mom's car has little space
left for anything besides her son and all the supplies that are needed
for his visit, which includes food (row below, left) and a pack' n play
(row below, right). Aafke enjoys the quality time she gets to spend
with her little brother, but feels quite exchausted by the end of his
visit. |
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Hip, Hip, Hurray! Opa Tano
and Oma Naatje celebrate their twentyfifth wedding anniversary with
a big party (row below, middle). Lior enjoys spending time with Tante
Daphne and Tante Astrid (row below, left) and finds the scarf of Opa
Tano and Oma Naatje's neighbor Hans quite intriguing (row below, right).
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Tante Astrid spends most of the party
entertaining Lior (left), and seems to be good at this (row below, left).
That is, Lior also gets lots of cuddles from him mom (right) and spends
some time hanging out in his stroller (row below, middle). Big sister
Luna helps mama push the stroller with little brother Lior upon leaving
the lovely party (row below, right). |
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Our little Sun Baby continues to make rapid progress
and is almost able to sit by himself (row below). That is, he can do
so now for a short while, but does not quite know yet what to do when
he is about to tumble over! |
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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. His sister also makes him
laugh a lot. |
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If you get the impression that Lior looks a little
sickly, you are quite right. The poor baby has been suffering through
nasal decongestion, coughing, stomach flu, rashes, diarrhea, you name
it. His concerned mom visited the family physician two weeks in a row
with her young son. There she learned that Lior had probably caught
the RS virus, which leads to hospitalization for many babies. She was
given a baby inhaler, antibiotics, and ointment to help Lior (left).
Esther-Mirjam was also told that babies oftentimes have a hard time
healthwise between six and twelve months, working hard to build up their
own resistance. Fortunately, it looks like Lior's body is doing the
right thing and it seems that the medication is helping, for Lior is
doing much better. |
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When Tante Daan comes over for a visit,
Lior gets to practice looking cool, calm, and collected (right). We
have to confess that Tante Daan is helping him a little in the picture
on the far right, for he is not quite strong enough yet to stand by
himself. |
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Our Sun Baby has acquired a new skill, which is clapping
his hands (row below). He gets a big kick out of doing so. After a while,
however, he gets bored with it (row below, right)! |
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A cute baby wearing a Santa hat, what more can a photographing
mom ask for (row below)? |
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Our Christmas cards are a little delayed, so here
is a sneak preview for you, with apologies for the hard copy arriving
late! |
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When his big sister Aafke comes over
for a visit, she gives him a long bath and decides that it is high time
for a different hairdo for her youngest brother (right). Our sweet sun
baby enjoys whatever attention he receives and does not mind the silly-looking
result one bit! |
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Lior has to pay an extra visit to the Youth Health
Bureau because he appeared to have grown very little during the previous
visit (left). This time, all concerns are put to rest. He now measures
69 centimeters (27.17 inches) and weighs 8,000 grams (17.64 US pounds).
This means that it is high time for mom to go clothes shopping for her
young son! It also means that it is high time for the young man to start
sleeping through the nights. He manages to do so every now and then. |
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Hip, Hip, Hurray!
38 weeks and 2 days old! December 24 is a special day, for Lior has now spent as much time on Planet Earth as he did in his mommy's tummy. Esther-Mirjam still remembers the excitement she felt when she found out that she was pregnant (right). Though it took some getting used to having to take care of two children with only one pair of hands, she feels that she has gotten a hang of it, thanks partly to the absolutely wonderful help from Lior's very sweet grandparents. Indeed, Esther-Mirjam feels very blessed. Lior is such a friendly and sweet presence in her life. |
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Lior is starting to talk almost as much as his youngest sister does.
And he is developing quite a vocabulary along the way. In addition,
he is learning different ways of using his hands. You can hear and
see all of this in a short video clip. (And in the background you
can hear the music to which Luna is listening.)
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Wherever Lior goes, he is commended for being such a relaxed baby.
He is happy to spend time on his mom's lap (row below), but he is
equally content hanging out in his play pen. Overall, he appears to
be a very happy baby indeed!
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Since Lior has two sets of grandparents,
it is very fortunate that there are two christmas days in the Netherlands.
Lior spends the first with Opa Ben and Oma Alie (far right) and the
second with Opa Tano and Oma Naatje (middle right). |
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Two children fit on one lap, but it
is sometimes easier for each to have a lap of one's own (left). |
Poor Opa Ben gets hit by a scooter the
day before christmas. And this while he is still recovering from his
back surgery. Fortunately, he forgets some of the pain when Lior sits
on his lap (middle right) and when the Sent clan hangs out on his couch
(far right). |
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Lior now prefers to sit upright when
enjoying a meal. And he sure does enjoy his meals, for he finishes almost
any food that is offered. That is, the bottle is not always his favorite.
Mom still has the portable "baby chair" that she bought for
Luna and Lior really enjoys it (left). Here he has just finished a bowl
of macaroni. Yum! |
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Hip, Hip, Hurray! Nine months old! Fortunately, the health of our sun baby seems to have taken a turn for the better. And he is also becoming such a mobile and strong young man. It is becoming harder and harder to remember what he was like right after birth. Such great progress our sweet baby has made. And he smiles through all the changes, which is such a delight. |
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