Emily Smoak boy

Went over to Chris and Emily's to see their new born boy, James Smoak

cute little pickle.  Quiet little sleeper, only half opened one eye as Alexi was held up to look at him.  Alexi's response was a similar silent contemplation, he just popped two fingers (ring and middle in mouth) and made a few sighs.

NEWS FLASH:  Hopkins Family Start Paperwork on # 2.

So, a little more than complete disinterest from Alexi, we're gonna take that as a good sign.  Cuz this time next year (or a few months earlier), there is gonna be another one in da house competing for attention. 

 

gobblers knob

Here we are 14 days out and no repeat episodes of Passing Out with no Breathing. That is lucky 7's. (7+7 = 14). If a pair of dice could have set of 7's then that is what I rolled. Thank goodness all is well on the Hopkins home front.

Speaking of 7, in the world out side my home, the number 7 is not so auspicious in its associations today. Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 777 points today. Thats a 7 % drop. Largest ever. And it was due to news on Wall Street that the party is over. Congress rejected the Bail-out Plan at 700 billion dollars (read: Shameless charity gift to an already pathetically rich set of Americans). But alas, no quick-fix hang-over drug for them. Party is over. Got pay your dues from your times in excess. ....Hey, we all must pay the piper in someway, someday. Hopefully the next "get-even-richer" scheme to come out of Washington will at least make some attempt to directly address those of us who are struggling to meet our mortgages.

OK, no more digressing into the current state of economic peril. It will fix itself. Lets get back to my personal peril, now long gone and fixed itself, I hope. Alexi has been great. All seems to be well and that Febrile Seizure thing (or whatever it was) is a thing of the past.

Feeling confident and going for the luck of the 7's, I ventured to take Alexi on a long hike yesterday. We started of the hike at the Alexander basin trail head at about 7,000 feet. Shouldering the boy in the backpack, I felt pretty strong for the first 2,000 ft. But the last 1,000 to make the summit of Gobblers Knob was steep and hard. Especially since I had 35 lbs on my back. (Alexi at 25 ish lbs and another 10 or so in water, food, and gear. Hey, double 35 and you get a lucky 70 lbs!!?).

We summited to glorious weather. Beautiful clouds accentuating the sky to earth view. The picture taking was stunning. Here we have a labmate of mine, Christian, taking a pic of his visiting beauty from Denmark, named Ea. In the background was the peak bagger extraordinare, Angella, the S.O. of my other labmate, Michael (not shown). Michael, who is a rabbid outdoor hiker, has infected Angella with peak grabbing addiction. Since she started hiking a month and a half ago, she has 16 summits underfoot. And this one was no exception, because she is standing on the tippy top, where the summit marker embeds in stone.
Allas, Alexi was less than enamored of the view. He fell asleep as we neared the summit and slept at the peak for 5-10 min while we had a snack break.
He was missing out on a great 360 view, But this was a fortunate bliss blessing for me. As we started contemplating to go, Booger woke up and became enthralled with the cliff edges around us. He could not keep himself away from my favorite winter pastime -- that of launching my meat from the lips of the cliffs, into ephemeral ease of hang-time space. It became a bit of a chore has he squirmed in my hands to be let down, only to charge right off towards the precipices surroundng us.

Wrestling him back into the backpack, we headed down towards the pass between Mt Raymond and Gobblers. Then a long traverse back to the car, with brilliant yellow aspens and ruby-orange oaks greeting us on the decent.

All in all it was a long one. 3000 ft up, and down (regrettably, no easy sliding down on skis). It took us over 5 hrs. Or in Alexi terms, 3 sets of diapers, two "ba-ba" (bottle), and half a PB&J to make the full trip. .....So me legs is a bit sore today.

Waynes wedding

Normal baby on a normal day ready for normal? It has been one week since my freaky Monday hospital trip. No repeat events, no blackout episodes, no lack of breathing. The air is good, time to get back to normal? Yes! Well, .....it was time to go to wedding.

My work mate and good buddy, Wayne, got married to Danielle on Saturday. Nervous jitters were accentuated by the ominous dark clouds surrounding us. But the mood turned happy and auspicious as, after vows were said, the newly married couple were able to leave the outdoor wedding for the indoor reception area with nary a raindrop falling. Meanwhile, all around the valley rain was falling in sheets.

Alexi was a big hit with the girls at the reception. In fact one little girl was so taken with him, we nearly had to pry her hands off to get him back. I am beginning to suspect this may be the way its always going to be for Alexi.....all the way to the altar.

Where is this?

Went hiking with Booger Saturday morning. Stopped for pic top of Scott's bowl.

Alexi found a new passionate game.
Pic up rock and thow it. Dog fetch rock. Throw it again (ha, Ha!) ...and again (Ha, Ha)....again .....and again and again, etc.

The Anual Family Get-together

Christy's side of the family has been having a regular summer reunion as of the last three years. This year was a repeat visit to a cabin in McCall, Idaho. But for Alexi, it was his first. Here he is getting the gentle guidance down the stairs from Gpaw Bill. Note the little angel in pink below Gpaw's elbow, thats my little niece, Santana. Pink is here favorite color. In fact it may be the only color she knows. When asked what color she wants of something the answer is invariably "Pink!"Here is a pic outside the cabin, as we rally to go to the beach at the lake. Christy is holding Alexi and Christy's sister, Kim, has her arm around her kids, Chad and our previously met "pink"-lover, Santana.
Alexi was thrilled to sink his hands into the sand of the beach. Although he is pretty much walking now, he preferred the crawl when on the beach.
Miss-iss Pink showed us the proper way to get a sun tan in her pink two piece on her pink-ish towel (not so pink was OK, just as long as you called it "pink".)

Here's group photo sans Gmaw Judy (aka, Momma Moose). The new ones here are me and Kim's hubby, Ed.
We were able to get Santana not to wear pink for a brief moment. She enjoyed posing for a photo in the Ethiopian outfit we got her in Addis Abba, her only regret.... "Its not pink!"

Another day of Mundane...lets take in the farm.

Yep, back to normal around here. Tomorrow is Neurology exam for Alexi, but lets get to something I have been meaning to get around too for some time now.

Christy's mom Judy came a couple of weekends ago to watch Alexi while Christy and I did LOTOJA. This acronym stands for Logan to Jackson. We did it on our road-bikes, all 206 miles of it in just under 12 hrs. Christy crossed the finish line with her friend Abby (here they are in the home stretch before finish line.) I was only 4 minutes ahead of them, as we pretty much rode most of the way together as a team.

Tired, but happy we posed for obligatory picture with finish line in background. All the months of riding prep that had gone into getting ready had payed off. We got there 1 hour faster than predicted. And were left capable of still standing.

Mamma Moose (alias for Christy's mom) apparently had her hands full with Alexi. The daycare cold Alexi had brought home and given to us, he also gave it to Grandma. But in a few days everyone was feeling better and a trip to the state fair was in order.

Alexi loved the fair. He wanted desperately to run wild with the goats.


He dug riding the merry-go-round with Momma

The Life-Flight helicopter pilot training with grandma was a hit. This training will allow him to help Mommy take care of her ER patients.

But the big hit was ....tractor sitting!




And to crown of completely cool day at the county fair......
......the obligatory poster shot behind a cardboard cut-out.

back to normal?

Booger-Brains is back to normal, thank goodness.

Still, it was a bit creepy tonight. Alexi to bed early. Went out on the back porch to have dinner with christy. Same time of day, sun going down. Right there, where I though my boy was dying on me and I was learning the P of CPR, the hard way.

Since Christy was working last night, she had the day off and was with him all day. She reports that all indications are normal. Playing, screaming, laughing n giggling, throwing temper tantrums, all in the same breath, as usual.

Yes breathing, I like breathing. It is something I am fond of and I want to make sure Alexi developes a fine appreciation for it. Last night we set the crib up in the room. And it was nice to hear him snore. Yes, I now like to hear him snore. Crying? .....no problem, cant cry if not breathing, right? ........Bring on the crying, baby!

EEG is scheduled for Thursday. Hope to hear that also come back normal. I have a newfound appreciation for normal. And how lucky we have been so far. Looking forward to getting back on track to our prior "unexciting-mundane-normal" lives.

What to do when breathing stops?

My boy just gave me big scare. He passed out in my lap earlier this evening. Eyes rolled back in his head and not breathing, I panicked.

Gave him mouth-to-mouth....not working! Then finally a breath. Call 911, bus on the way. In 5 min ambulance shows and Alexi is more alert. He seem much better. I elect to take him in myself as hospital which is only a few blocks away.

Crisis subsides as we find CT is normal. EKG normal. No repeat episodes. It is chalked up to febrile seizure, as he has slight fever. EEG in next few days are expected to rule out any issues.

The scare was enough for me, I don't need any more issues! Alexi is fine now, just sleeping away nicely, ....and breathing I might add.

Annies mac n cheeeeze

So what is in the stuff? Kids go ga-ga over Annies Mac n Cheese. Alexi is no exception. I asked him:
"Are you hungry?"
Reply: "um, umm, uuummmm"
"How about Annie Mac and Cheeze?"
"E Eeee EEEEEEyyyy"
That repeat E-E sound is Alexi speak for "Yes, now got to have it now, NOW!" and if he does not get immediate gratification he gets to whining which usually descends into full blown temper tantrum.


but when he sees the Mac n Cheeze he breaks into giddy excitement. Because as you know, right now, Annies Mac n Cheese is the most important thing in the world! and the first bite is ...mmm, so delicious.

Then, as the bowl of the good stuff is finished and in the belly, the giddy intoxication takes hold.

Stair master

The man likes his stairs. He is such the cruiser these days. Alexi is getting more and more adventurous, but also shows a surprising amount of restraint. I suppose in that, he is not like his papa. But time is likely to change that!