A couple of questions about the following lines from a Chinese blog
I am currently translating a famous blog from Chinese to English and I have a couple of questions.
1: 休假很快就要结束,据说北京已经很冷,妈妈给我发来牛牛小朋友的的照片,还有我的小猫们,想,你,们,了!!!
Is 牛牛 the name of the baby in the photo? If so is it more likely to be a boy or a girl. It seems a bit of a strange name as the only meaning I know for 牛 is cow or cattle. Is it a nickname? Does 牛 have another meaning?
2: 久违了的悠长假期,是否真的可以改变一个人。
I am a little confused by this line and the use of 久违. I looked up 久违 and it appears to mean 'a long time since we met' and is used like 好久不见. The best translation I could think of is something like 'can not having a long holiday for a long time change someone? Is this right? Please can you explain this sentence a bit more please. Furthermore, what is the difference between saying 好久不见了 and久违了 to someone?