Moni at 18 (and 18 months)

A Moni-centric weekend continues with the celebration today of her 18th birthday, and time for a proud father to reminisce about her earliest days. So here are a few photos of precious childhood memories of my darling daughter, who today reached her Age of Majority.

Left: Moni aged four months. Back in the early 1990s, before digital photography was invented, one had to take pictures using a camera obscura with a Daguerreotype plate, which was exposed for 20 minutes and then developed by treating the silver halides with mercury vapour. This particular photogravure took eight weeks to develop - by which time Moni was walking.

Below: Moni's eyes demonstrate awareness and intelligence aplenty. Button bright. At this age, Moni's nickname was Bóbuluń (from bób, or broad bean). As she grew up this became Bobbie, then Big Bob.

But as soon as she could speak, Moni began referring to herself (always in the third person) as 'Minka'. Polish was her first and only language until she started pre-school at the age of three and half. From Minka came another nickname, the diminutive plural, Mineczki. And of course, Madamki.

When introducing herself to non-Polish speaking children (before Moni knew any English), she would refer to herself as 'De Moneekee'.

Left: This is my favourite photo of Moni from her youngest days; May 1994; she's around 15 months old, and already displaying a vast vocabulary for her age. Dziadzio Bohdan recorded her as knowing over 300 words by the time she was 18 months old.


Above: Moni (still in nappies) seated on the bonnet of a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit (in those days, I used to test luxury cars for the business magazine I edited).

Left: Moni's second summer holiday, aged 18 months, in North Wales, where we'd go almost each year until 2007.

This time last year:
Roadworks in mid-winter

This time two years ago:
Skiing in the Beskid Wyspowy

This time three years ago:
Moni is 15