Huey-ism: Bedtime Prayer

Houston said the bedtime prayer tonight.  He thanked God for important things like his brothers and Pokemon.  Then he said this jewel that melts a parent's heart...

"God, you are such an awesome God.  I don't think I could ever figure out how to make an elephant or a giraffe!"

Huey-ism: Finds from Schoolwork

At some point every week, each boy brings home about 500 sheets of paper with schoolwork for us to "keep at home".  I pilfer through it all and pick only the greatest of treasures to hold onto, since we'd have to rent a decent sized storage unit to keep it all.

This week, Houston's work, in the most classical Houston way, contained these golden nuggets...

Exhibit A
Apparently, he read a story in class that was set in a baseball field.  The main characters were Dad, Mom, and Ronald Morgan. The question on the school work read, "My favorite part was..."  To which Houston answered, "Win Ronald hit his Dad in the knee with a ball."

Nevermind a sweet family sharing an American pasttime.  Bodily harm.  The kid loves it. 

Exhibit B
I presume with the arrival of Fall, his class is discussing things related to the new season.  He brought home a list of three things he would do if he were a scarecrow.
   1.  scare the crows away dy making scary 'fases' (he still mixes up d's and b's)
   2.  watch the pumpkins so they would be safe
   3.  Make a 'nuter' scarecrow so I d't do all the wock
     Translation of #3:  Make another scarecrow so I don't do all the work
     (we have some trouble recognizing r sounds and haven't quite grasped all the acceptable contractions yet)

But the funniest thing is that he would replicate himself to share the work with.  But that is Houston in his purest form.  He is more the foreman/bossy/supervisory type.  However, boy's got a point, I mean, hanging on a stalk is exhausting and guaranteeing the safety of pumpkins is serious business!

Hawk-ism: Aging

This morning Hawkins, Holt, and I had the wooden block letters and numbers set out.  We like to practice learning with them.  He made a line of six blocks and wanted me to teach them to him.  Only one of his chosen blocks was blue.  I started with the block closest to me, which was not blue, "This is a 'V'.  V is for Victor."

Hawk:  No, Mom!  You have to start with the 'boo' one.  Always start with the 'boo' one first!
Me:  Okay.  The blue one is a 2.
Hawk:  I know that.  <giggles>
Me:  Are you 2?
Hawk nods his head
Me:  Oh!  I thought you were 3?!
Hawk:  <with head cocked to the side batting his eyelashes and very matter-of-factly>  I growed up!

Holt is 11 Months!!

Oh my goodness!  Just one short month before your first birthday.  I am filled with so much excitement and sadness all at the same time.  I look forward to you growing up because you will begin toddling and babbling.  But I also know that eventually means less cuddling and kissing.

*I guess we can now call you an official crawler.  You very rarely do the belly scoot anymore, just every once in a while when you think you can get somewhere faster salamander-style.

*You have been pulling up on things for forever but now you will let go and balance yourself for as much as three seconds before you drop to your bottom.  We're slightly off track with my goal for you to walk by Halloween.  But, it does seem that you might walk earlier than your older brother, Hawkins, did.  And that is a plus!  Besides, I only want you walking by Halloween because you can show off your costume better when you're not crammed in a stroller or wrapped around my hip.

*So I'm still totally your favorite.  Sadly, I haven't seen much plus to this fact.  It means you crawl all around the house hunting me down when I leave your sight.  Which, okay, is completely adorable.  Until you find me, that is.  As soon as you spot me, you instantly want to be held.  You make your wishes well known (commence incessant crying until baby gets what he wants).  Mind you, there is a room full of brothers and Daddy, any of whom would love to hold you, that you pass right by.  It's so severe now that if your brothers pull you two inches away from me, you immediately bust out.  If they put you right back, you immediately quit.

*You've learned to drink from a straw, which you now believe entitles you to anyone's drink with a straw.  And when you are denied things, such as Coke, you get very upset.  One day, I did cave and let you have some of my soda but you hated it and spit it right out.

*You love to play Pete and Repeat.  Basically, you make a noise, such as "eh" and then one of your audience members will repeat it in the exact same manner and pitch as you.  And we continue on and on.  It's so cute that it hasn't come close to getting old.

*You really kinda need a haircut.  But your precious hair is still so baby fine that I feel as though length = thickness and a trim would set us back a few months in the density department.

*When we go down to the park, you like to swing but you absolutely love, love, love to slide.  You like to attempt crawling up the baby slide.  Surprisingly enough, when you're in shorts, your feet/knees/hands are gummy enough that you can actually make it about halfway up.  But your favorite is sliding down, especially when Houston slides with you down the big tunnel slide.  When you reach the bottom, you giggle and squeal with joy.  I imagine that in a few months your squeal will be followed with "again, again!"

*You get into everything!  You leave a little wake of destruction behind you.  While your big brothers are at school, Hawkins loves to play with you.  He shares his super heroes / builder tools / trucks / anything that he's playing with at the moment.  He talks to you and tells you how to play correctly.  He also lets you know when you are not doing it right.  When your big bubbies come home, however, you get left on the side of the road.  All bets are off.  But that's when Houston swipes you up and loves and adores you.  Hayes always makes sure to come give you a hug and kiss.

*Have I mentioned yet that you poop all the time?!  Like, I sing praises when the diaper isn't dirty because it is such a rarity.

*You wake promptly between 6:30-7:00am every morning without fail.  Unless you're at Grammy's, of which your 9am mornings are of no benefit to me.  Anywho, you and Hawkins entertain each other for a good ten minutes before he makes his morning debut.  Then, I begin heating your bottle.  Once it is ready, I hand it to you and for the next 30 minutes, you are held captive in your crib.  You see, from 7:00-7:30am is massive chaos trying to get your big brothers dressed, fed, backpacked, and out the door to catch the bus.  If I set you free, there is too much commotion going on to drink your bottle!  Also, you always wake up with a stinkie and I literally do not have two extra minutes to stop and change you to avoid the potential for leakage onto the carpet.  Hence, confinement to the crib.  Some mornings you comply, other mornings you protest.

Holt is 10 Months!!

Since at your nine month check-up, your weight was calculated in the 25th percentile, your grandparents have made it their personal mission to fatten you up.  You've always looked thick and healthy but apparently, they believe that the numbers don't lie.  I'll bet you've gained at least two pounds in the last month, all courtesy of your loving grandparents.

When anyone says "Yaaaay!" you clap and then immediately smile, the big open mouthed one.

You now have two more top teeth which makes for a grand total of six teeth.

You have the most adorable little smirk face.  You squint your eyes, scrunch your nose, and grin ear to ear.

You're really starting to get around on two legs, with the assistance of a table, couch, etc.  You still aren't completely crawling on your knees yet, but you are beginning to use that mode of travel more and more.

You played peek-a-boo for the first time the other day.  It doesn't really count, since I was not around to witness it.  However, your Grammy, Papaw, and Daddy all insist that it happened and say it was the cutest thing ever!

You're officially an omnivore and now eat things like Lasagna with Meat Sauce, Chicken Noodle Dinner, and Ham with Pineapple.  You can eat an entire banana in one sitting.  We have yet to find something that you do not like.  You are such an eater!

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.