The Hannig Home

At dinner tonight, Luke pointed to Ben across the table and said to me, "That boy likes to eat 'tatoes."  (As Ben was shoveling them in). Luke has been a very good big brother to Benny lately.  He hugs him, shares with him, gives him rides on the toy four-wheeler, brings him toys, and just generally watches out for him.  Today at the grocery store Ben was throwing toys on the floor.  I was trying to get Ben to follow me and get away from the toys, but I had my hands full and couldn't really grab him or stop him from taking toys off the shelf.  So Luke tried to steer him my way, and when Ben started walking toward me, Luke ran back and picked up all the toys Ben had taken off the shelf and put them away.  Then Ben headed back for the toys so this time Luke started walking toward me, knowing that Ben would follow him.  It was cute to watch the entire interaction.  I was proud of Luke - for realizing it was the right thing to do to pick up the toys that Ben had misplac

Lukey, You have a lot of pride.  I wonder if that is characteristic of a lot of 3 year olds?  You have a very hard time saying "I'm sorry" or "I love you" or "Thank you."  The other day your uncle Joe had some chips and you wanted some, but you wouldn't say 'please.'  Joe and dad kept telling you to just say please and that it was easy and you'd get the chips.  You absolutely refused.  You would rather not have the chips than give in and say please!  Often you will sit in your room on your little red stool (where we've sent you as punishment) before saying you are sorry to your brother.  Oh Lukey, you are a funny character.  I hope this pride business is a phase. Mom

A few days ago uncle Pete killed a little snake when mowing our lawn.  He told Luke about it and Luke wanted to see it. "Pete, show me the nake in the hoods." That is, show me the snake in the woods. After some more thought, I determined he can say his 'S's like sun  or softball  because they don't have a second consonant after them.  When they do - such as words that start with an St, Sn, Sl, Sp, or Sk - he has a hard time pronouncing the S.  Nothing concerning...a friend of mine who is a speech pathologist said they get concerned when kids can't pronounce their S's at age 5.  Mostly, it's just cute and enjoyable for us to figure out what he is trying to say. Sn words: Snake = nake Snuggle = nuggle St words: Stay = day Stickers = dickers Sk (and Squ) words: Skiing = geeing Skating = gating Mosquito = 'gito Sl words: Slippers = frippers Sp words: Spikes = bikes Spill = bill Sm words: Smell = mell Here he is on Mothe

He musters up a smile for me, my sweet boy. Ben waking up after his one year immunizations. Oh my he is so sad! The minute Ben sees his blankie he puts his fingers in his mouth and starts sucking.  It's his cue to relax and nap.  Well, here he found some extra blanket pieces from Grandma Marcy (grandma gave them to Luke...in case his cars or bears needed to nap), and the same response was triggered - instant sucking of the fingers.  Too cute! His romper says, appropriately, "Are you going to eat that?" Beware if you have food around Ben, he will go after it like he owns it.  His new favorite is the banana.  He will eat 2 whole bananas and be forced to stop, but he still goes after Luke's. Just cute More cute About a month ago, Ben had a streak where he would wake up at 11pm every night and we couldn't bare to let him cry as hard as he was.  So, some of my favorite times were at 11pm with him out in the living room, snuggling and

I'm a bit behind on blogging about the key dates around here.  Ben had is very first birthday (his golden birthday) on May 1st and I'm just sitting down to recap now.  Maybe it's because there is not much to recap.  Like Luke's first birthday, Ben had no clue what was going on.  When we sang Happy Birthday to him he did actually put his head in my chest/shoulder like he was embarrassed.  But other than that, it was a standard first birthday - give me the cake with chocolate frosting NOW before I starve to death (and if you've seen Benny, it's clear he is not quite starving to death).  Grandma and Grandpa Hannig were here and brought a cute Puma outfit, and Grandma and Grandpa Dold came later in the week with a drum set (which Luke claimed as his own) and a battery operated walking/barking puppy - a HUGE hit with Ben. (Luke also tried to claim this toy, saying that he would share with Benny every so often). It is as though Ben knew he turned one, because as of

Luke, You are such an affectionate boy.  In the past 6 months you have continued to become more and more affectionate - towards your mama, in particular.  You love to give me all sorts of kisses on my face.  Sometimes you kiss each cheek very slowly, quite affectionately.  Other times you smooch me and hug me fast and crazy, giving me rapid-fire kisses.  And often you will just hold my face in your soft, little hands and tell me you love me.  A few nights ago I was lying in bed with you as you were falling asleep.  You always make me turn my face toward you so you can put one hand on my face and keep it there, sometimes softly rubbing my face, other times just still.  As you put your little hands on my face last night you said, "I wuv you, Mommy. "  Then a pause.  Then, " I wuv your soft face. "  Later, I heard you whisper, "Thank you for Mommy."  I asked you what you had said and you repeated it.  You were praying to Jesus, as we do each night.  We had