I Have a Confession...

We've lived in our home for eight years and I've never mopped the floors.  EVER!  Come to think of it, I've never mopped any floor.  Ever!  Now don't gross out on me just yet.

You see, the United States Coast Guard equipped my husband with many skills, some more practical than others.  For instance, scarfing down a meal in thirty seconds flat and blowing up a toilet with a single firecracker, not so much.  Rescuing a drowning swimmer and scaling a light pole are skills that could possibly be useful but haven't been thus far.  My Coastie can pack a mean suitcase and tie some serious knots.  However, it's the mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms, that I completely exploit, even though he has a tendency to use way too much bleach (also courtesy of the good ole USCG).

I've posted before how Adam, with his back injury, is not able to do much beyond lie on the couch.  In his absence, Holt has really risen to the occasion in cleaning the kitchen tile.  He continues to do a decent job with his onesie.  What he lacks in thoroughness and effectiveness, he more than makes up for in persistence.

Needless to say, the floors have been haunting me for weeks.  With a family of six, and all but me are boys, the floors probably should have been haunting me for months.  But hey, I'm all about honesty here and it has only been a few weeks.  The slate stares at me with big googly eyes and tauntingly laughs at me.  You know the monster type laugh, "moo hoo ha ha ha".  And increasingly so everytime Holt chased me through the kitchen.

It was well beyond time to tackle the domesticated skill of mopping.  After scooting around the floor, inch by inch, scraping mashed in who-knows-what from all the crevices for nearly an hour, I was ready to mop.  I sought instruction from Mr. Couch Potato and ended up mopping the floor twice.  I could have mopped a third time since the water was still a little brown but I was exhausted!

We left for a late afternoon swim at my parents before I got a good look at the finished product.  By nightfall, I explained to my parents that I was anxious to go home and just stare at my kitchen floor.  Can you tell I was proud of myself?!  So proud that I considered serving breakfast on the floor the next morning, but decided against it.  That would mean mopping it again.  And I'm not looking forward to doing that in the next few months weeks, even though I'm no longer intimidated by the monster.

Holt is 9 Months!!

You are getting dangerously close to 1, big boy.  It still feels like yesterday that you were brand new.

You weigh 19lb 2oz, which no one would have guessed is only in the 25% since you look pretty chunky to all of us.  You are 28.5" which is in the 65% and no drumroll required, your head is above the 97%.

You now have 4 teeth which turns out is the minimum amount required for grinding.  Definitely not one of my favorite things that you do lately.

Along with the grinding, you are also growling/grunting.  This is definitely one of your more hilarious skills.  You growl for lots of reasons, but especially when food is not coming to your mouth fast enough.

You're still crawling with your tummy on the ground.  You have taken a few "steps" with your tummy off the ground, but nowhere near enough to say that you are officially crawling.  And occasionally, you will go from lying on your tummy to sitting.

You are pulling up on everything!  You love playing on the Leap Frog learning table.  It is just the perfect size and all the jingles and lights keep you thoroughly entertained.

You can now wave.  Whenever we tell you "Hi!" you smile and wave with one of your hands, open palmed with hand moving up and down.  Of course you never perform on cue, like when trying to show one of the grandparents.  Your wave also happens to be your one and only dance move thus far.  Every time you hear music playing, you start waving that hand.

You LOVE to eat.  If we're not feeding you fast enough, you do this clearing throat/machine gun noise "uh uh uh uh" followed by slapping the table three or four times.  You've moved in at the dinner table and you sit right next to me.  If those hints don't work, you lean over with your gooey hands and either grab and pull my shirt or pinch my arm.  Also, not one of my most favorite things you are doing lately.

You've not been the best napper this month.  Most days you refuse to take a second nap.  You're still too young to drop that second nap and Mommy really enjoys/relies on your second nap.  So can we bring it back this month, please?  When you wake up, whether from the night or from a nap, you do your best to shove the empty bottle through the rails of the crib and then you toss your pacifier out of the bed.