May I have your attention, please Just came home from Jessica's Grandma's traditional epiphany dinner with the sausages, and the fish and the pears and the cream and the talk.
This was the first time for Hannes who got his seat by the end of the table and he commanded everybody's attention from there. To be fair, Hannes is probably the neatest two-year-old in the world - he spills less yoghurt than I do - so he can just sit by the chair and eat and observe.
He can even converse a little with his dinner companions on each side.
Today, those happened to be Jessica's uncle and Mom.
Sometimes it just feels so good to look at him interact with other people because you can almost grab a hold of the love in the air.
Every once in a while, somebody quietly left the table to go and play with Hannes. Then they'd come back and Hannes would sit down for a while, maybe eat some more and then disappear with somebody else.
He rewarded his admirers by singing a song. And then another one. And then one and a half. And then one more.
Back in business Hannes went back to work this morning. With all the holidays, with Christmas and everything, Hannes hasn't been going to the kindergarten for two weeks.
It's a funny old world, that kindergarten, you know. I think all kindergartens are a little special, and I think it may have something to do with the fact that everything looks almost like in any apartment, except that everything's smaller and lower.
The toilet seats are tiny, the sinks are kneehigh and the plates and forks and knives are small as well. It's like entering another world, where you definitely are the visitor. They have their rules and their hierarchy, you just observe, mister.
What makes Hannes's kindergarten a little bit more special to me, is that they all speak Finnish. They all speak Finnish in Stockholm.
It's a little Finnish hub in the middle of the swedishnest of Stockholm. It reminds me of a special club that you go to.
And Hannes is member. I'm just a hangaround member.
Devil in Disguise
When Hannes was just a little baby, I used to sing Elvis to him. I am sure I have told you this before, but bear with me. Elvis is about to return to the building.
I remember those early evenings when I rocked (sic) Hannes on my arms, singing the entire "Elvis Number Ones" album, all the way from "Heartbreak Hotel" (One of my favorites, and one of the songs I do best) down to "Way Down". Song number 24 was "Devil in Disguise" and more often than not, Hannes fell asleep during that one.
Jessica always used to laugh at my interpretation of the song. I mean, it's more like two songs, with the first, slow part turning into the hard rocking (and excellent) chorus:
You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise
You’re the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise
And apparently, I can't carry a tune, so my voice changed a bit too much between the two parts.
Anyway, I think it's more than a coincidence that Hannes liked that song even when he was a baby, because just two years later, Jessica and I realize that he is a devil in disguise.
Sometimes.
When things don't go his way or when Mom/Dad doesn't get it. Sometimes Mom and Dad are just ignorant tyrants, says Hannes.
Daddy's darling
"Hannes, you are Daddy's little darling, aren't ya?" is one of my favorite expressions. Hannes just looks so damn cute, so often, that in lack of better words, I just give him a huge hug and I tell him that he's my little angel.
Sometimes, we ask him if he's Daddy's darling and then if he's Mom's little cutiepie.
Now, keep in mind, that I speak Finnish with Hannes, and Jessica Swedish.
The first time I heard Hannes say "no" to me when I asked him if he was Mom's little angel, I was startled. It felt like the worst kind of favorism, and I surely didn't want Hannes to feel that yes, he was Daddy's darling, but not Mommy's.
Until Hannes went on to say that instead of being Mommy's darling like I had said in Finnish, he sure was Mom's cutiepie, in Swedish.
