11 more days until my visit home! I am excited and terrified in equal measure. I cannot wait to see everyone, but I am sooooo dreading the trip! Luna is not what you'd call an "easy" baby. We love her dearly, but she is loud, opinionated, and stubborn. She also almost never sleeps anywhere other than her own bed (she occasionally passes out in her stroller for a few minutes at a time, but that's it). I am anticipating much complaining from her during the 20+ hours we'll be traveling. I feel sorry for the other passengers! And I'll have to manage a cranky child and all of our luggage alone! I just keep repeating my mantra: It will all be worth it. It will all be worth it!!!
We had a very nice Easter. Luna had her first ever Easter egg hunt! I filled some plastic eggs with rice and glued them shut to make shakers. She "hunted" the first three or four, but after that she just wanted to play with them so we had to help. She got a number of little gifts from the Easter bunny (and gramma!), including some crayons and markers and her very first doll! The crayons and markers were a hit, I now have baby artwork to hang on the wall! The doll, on the other hand, was not a success: she was afraid of it! She's just now, four days later, starting to interact with it a tiny bit. We had a nice dinner, with what we thought was a pork roast (it looked like one, and that's what the package said), but ended up tasting more like ham. It was delicious nonetheless!
We've had amazing weather the past two weeks - its been sun shiney and 80+ degrees every day! Today is gray and we've had a couple rain showers, but that's the first time in two weeks. It seems like weather comes in chunks here, its slow to change. Which is awesome when its GOOD weather, but when its rainy or snowing for 2 or 3 weeks straight its miserable! It will be weird to go from wearing shorts and sundresses back to long sleeves and pants when we get to Maine!
Luna is doing well. She continues to boycott walking for some reason. Or I should say "walking unassisted." Because she walks everywhere, holding onto either furniture, toys, or us. She literally will walk around dragging her walking toy behind her! Its more of a hindrance than a help but she doesn't dare let go! She has added a new word to her growing repertoire - "cheese." Like her "word" for cookie, which is a very distinct growly "k" sound, this is more Luna speak than English or Dutch, but its consistent, so I guess it counts as a word. Its basically the last part of the word "cheese," the zzzzzzeeeee sound. She also consistently says "Nana" when she sees my step-mom on Skype or in the photo album. She's started saying her own name again, too, and even manages the "L" sound sometimes! But she'll always be "Una" to me! :P
And last but not least, we have a new member of the family: a stuffed lobster. I found it at the Blokker here in town for 6 euro, and it reminded me of home, so I bought it. I never expected it to become her new best friend! LaLa the Lobster (the name was chosen by Luna, who was into "L" sounds that day!) goes everywhere with her. I have to battle her to keep it out of the bath and I have to prop her on the table so she's visible during mealtimes! Unfortunately, it was the only one they had, so I can't get a backup in case LaLa has an accident! I've already sewed up a hole under her eye! So keep your eyes open for a large stuffed lobster, we're in need of a backup! I find it very amusing that we'll be travelling 3000 miles to Maine and bringing our OWN lobster!
