Hannes the Hoarse Like all kids (?), Hannes loves animals. He's like glued to the TV whenever there are lions or zebrasor cats and dogs. Even the Bear in the Big, Blue House seems cuddly to Hannes.
And then, of course, there are the books that we read. My favorite right now is the one where the little puppy meets the cats, and just before the pigs arrive, the duck comes walking. After our hero, the puppy, has met the horse and the cow, he grows up, and becomes two dogs who then meet two cats. Circle of life. I think. There is no text in the book, so my interpretation could be off.
Anyway, whenever Hannes sees a dog, he makes this growling noise in his hoarse voice: "Row-ra-rah-raaaaaaaaaahhh."
Sometimes he skips the growling and just goes, "mmmmmm.... aaaaaaah" whenever the animal is just too cute to resist.
Like the darkhaired man with a goatee and a fur coat he saw at the Helsinki airport a couple of weeks ago.
Out of it I bet Hannes understands everything I say. I bet he knows exactly what I mean when I say, for example, "Hannes, if you need to pee, the bathroom's in the hall." The only thing stopping him from just doing it, is the fact that he can't open the door. (Which, by the way, Jessica and I are just grateful for).
I see it every day. He amazes me every day by doing something that I had asked/told him to do but not really expected him to do. Like, go to the front door and get the newspaper and bring it to me. (Sounds like we're bringing up a dog, but please don't misunderstand me. Getting the newspaper and mail is a big ritual in our family).
I know exactly how Hannes must feel now. I remember what it was like the first x YEARS in Sweden, when I knew I could probably speak the language but never could, anyway. And I am sure if you ask some of my ex-colleagues from that time, the situation was probably exactly the same: it was as if I understood everything they said, even when my own speech was mostly just gaga.
Hannes's latest is this: About 10, 11 in the morning when he starts to feel the 6.30 am wakeup, he gets his shoes and brings them to me or Jessica. Then he sits down and puts the shoes on his feet. Like, he places the shoes on top of his tiny and chubby feet. If that's not enough, he can bring the jacket, too, so that we understand that he wants to go for a walk.
That we understood right away.
But it took us a few days to realize he wants to go for a walk simply to asleep.
Where's Hannes? I don't think I told you that I spent three days alone with Hannes, as Jessica was on a business trip in Stockholm. We had a blast.
I had decided well in advance that I would not even try to work during those three days, that Hannes would be my number one and only priority. It wasn't always easy, it wasn't a walk in the park. It was many walks in the park.
And since I am the official Family Clown, a.k.a. Funniest Dad In the World, I had an image to live up to.
If the fact that Hannes laughed so much that he peed on the carpet in the kitchen is any indication, I am still the FDIW. The secret of comedy is the delivery, so I can tell you what I did without risking losing my status.
We played ...
Ready? Have your pencils ready...
We played .. hide-and-seek. Hannes sat by a chair, and I would try to find him. I looked everywhere, including the freezer, but almost couldn't find him. When he came to me, laughing hysterically, I had to find him. And then he would go and see if he was in the freezer.
We play it every day now. It's still fun. It's hard to imagine new places for him to "hide" (Hannes always just stands by the door, but I look for him everywhere) but he still enjoys it. And everytime I find him, he runs to the freezer to see if he is in there.
Flat Stanley Hannes got a letter in the mail today. "Dear Hannnnes, thank you for bringing Stanly to town. Love, Jake. PS. Happy Chinese New Year."
Flat Stanley is a little boy who was caught under a falling bulletin board and was flattened by it. No, no, he's not hurting, he's just --- flat. But hey, there's good news. Since Stan is flat, he can travel across the world in an envelope. Which he just did. He came from Boston to Helsinki today, and yes, Hannes is going to show him the city.
And we'll be taking photos of Stan and Hannes, Stan and cars, Stan and snow, Stan and the Church, maybe even Stan and me. Maybe. Then, when we send "Flats" back to Boston, Jake and his kindergarten friends can see what Helsinki looks like, and where it is on the map.
Tired Today was one of those days when all three of us never really woke up, it seems. We were tired and cranky, and really just wanted to sleep.
We didn't want to be cranky but it was just too hard to be happy. Even Hannes got tired of trying to smile and laugh. he could only do it for ten minutes and then he fell into the crying-making noise-wanting to held -mode. If were a Sims family, I would refuse to go to shower, Jessica would definitely not study and Hannes would have peed in his pants.
Oops. I guess we are a Sims family.
When Hannes got to bed, we were all happy. He was happy to finally go to bed, and Jessica and I were just happy to do nothing.
Hannes on ice So, Hannes was a year, 2 months, 9 days and 12 hours when he took his first contact with ice. He had been sitting there, in his trolley, for half an hour maybe, and watched me, Jessica and Tipi, a friend of ours skate around, and take a couple of cool slapshots.
He liked ice. He held on to the puck and tried to run a little bit.
And no, he didn't fall down.
A friend of mine told me that the smallest skates are size 24. Hannes is 22 now.
