Posted by J Hopkins on Oct 1, 2011 in
General,
Pictures,
Video Max is huge! 30lbs, 4 teeth of fury, and we can barely keep up with him. He is walking/nearly running all over the place, eating everything in sight and playing so hard all day at daycare that he falls right to sleep most evenings. We are looking forward to everyone (who can make it) coming to see him at his 1st birthday party later on this month. Mom’s doing a photo shoot for tomorrow, but for now, here are some iPhone pics and vids:
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Max Eating Peas
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Max in the Tub
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Max, Pop & Bottle
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Max Exploring Treasures @ The Children’s Museum
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Max Spelunking @ The Children’s Museum
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Max-O-saurus Rex
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Posted by J Hopkins on Sep 8, 2011 in
General,
Video Boogie Max:
When Max hears music, he either swings his arms side to side, or stomps up and down.. this is some stompin’
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Max Eating Breakfast
Max is usually chipper in the am.
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Max Eating Ice Cream:
I’m sure that some will think this is a bit mean, but Max was having fun eating ice cream with Dad and Grandpa Russ. (it’s cold!)
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Max Walking:
Well, here it is… video evidence that the boy is on the move. No stopping him now!
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Posted by J Hopkins on Sep 7, 2011 in
General Evite is below. If we didn't get your correct email on this list let us know!
Evite Link: http://new.evite.com/services/links/TOPIFNMQNY
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Posted by J Hopkins on Sep 5, 2011 in
General,
Pictures,
Video So far, his record is five steps (that we’ve seen) and no video yet. His preferred method of transportation remains to be his lightning fast crawl. His front 4 teeth are pretty visible now and he loves to flash the cheesy smile.  He’s 34″ tall and 28 lbs and is eating just about anything we put in front of him. He has started to push away spoons, much preferring to pick up food and eat it himself. He even has some dance moves that he has been working on. Some recent pics and videos here:
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Sophia Gives Max a Ride:
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Max and Table Corners:
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Posted by J Hopkins on Aug 13, 2011 in
General,
Video Some quick videos are posted here. The boy is so close to walking now! He has taken his first few steps, but still prefers to hit the ground and crawl it out. New size 6 wide Stride Rites are doing the trick!
This was about 2 1/2 weeks ago:
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Hopkins Grandkids (not all of them happy to have picture taken!)
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Speedy Maxwell 1 month ago:
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On the trip back from OBX
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Posted by J Hopkins on Aug 5, 2011 in
General,
Pictures So… We’ve decided that this has been such a busy summer, we will have to do one big summer update with all the pics, videos and stories from the past few months.. But here are a few pics to tide y’all over until we do.
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Posted by J Hopkins on Jul 25, 2011 in
General,
Pictures I was going to say that he has now matched the time alive on the “outside” as he was on the “inside,” but Charity would correct me that he did not quite make it to his Nov 4th due date! Max is doing great. As you may be able to tell by the lack of recent content on the website, he has been hard to keep up with. We’ve been capturing pictures and videos and will post soon.. That’s a promise!!
Seen here a week or so ago with his sister, Lauren:
Posted by C2 on Jul 11, 2011 in
General,
Pictures,
Video I think that we originally signed up for the Outer Banks (OBX) because it sounded like a simple trip – some drive time but overall relaxing and uneventful. It turned out to be quite an exciting, somewhat busy, and an emotional journey for this family.
June 25, the day we arrived in OBX, was Max’s 8-month birthday. In a seven days following, Max reached some pivotal milestones. (And we mean pivotal… as in groundbreaking and mobile.) He finally figured out how to use his knees when he crawled, which meant that he could take the pressure of mobility off of his now huge guns. I am convinced that out of jealousy for his cousin Sophia’s abilities, Max began to pull himself up to standing using all nearby stable furniture. Once mastering the upward motion (and expressing his excitement for doing so), he began to work on the “jumper’s ledge walk†to get from couch to couch, table to table. It always seemed like he was headed straight for the most dangerous things he could find – pointy table corners, wobbly chairs, beverage containers, and wall outlets. I think that J and I realized (even Greg and Amy) that vacations would never be the same with a baby around. You are always on alert.
All the while, we enjoyed some other fun experiences with Max and the rest of the gang. Playing in the ocean, smearing wet sand on our hands and feet, splashing in the pool by our condo, giving Max graham crackers for the first time, sunshine….lots and lots of sunshine. Adults and older kids enjoyed boogie boarding and tasty dinners in and out.
On our final day, J and I were awakened at 2:00 a.m. by our coughing boy…who had the dreaded “barking cough†that our doctor described as one of the only reasons we would need to get to an ER on the weekends. He sobbed as we tried to wake him fully and get him to the only emergency place closeby – an ambulance stationed at the local fire department. After checking Max out, the EMTs said that they couldn’t diagnose Max but figured he had croup, which needed to be treated at the hospital. So, away we went. Max cried in sync with the siren as we drove off into the night, swirving and turning through the winding beach road to the only OBX hospital. After treatment and 4 hours under watch, we returned home….just hours before needing to be packed and checked out of the condo.
We had a sleepy drive home, with one stop in West Virginia to see Grandma and Papaw Counts. Banana bread and happy memories from the week carried us home from there.
And home sweet home it is..
Some Pics & Vids of the Trip:
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Posted by J Hopkins on Jun 24, 2011 in
General,
Pictures It’s been a pretty big week for the 7 month old Max Man.  He just learned to sit all the way up on his own and now he has quickly parlayed that move into a kneel/swing-foot-around/pull-up and stand technique. He was able to do it three times last night in his Pack-N-Play and Charity and I were so excited we forgot to get any video footage! So, for now, here’s a picture of the boy. (He turns 8 Months old tomorrow!)
Posted by J Hopkins on Jun 18, 2011 in
General,
Video Max just figured out how to do this shortly after 8am this morning… And now he won’t stay down!
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Posted by J Hopkins on Jun 15, 2011 in
General,
Pictures Max had his first trip to the Zoo on Sunday and he had a great time. We got there in the late afternoon, and many of the animals were in “siesta” mode, but Max enjoyed seeing all of the people and had some good exposure to wildlife. More pics and video soon, but here are a few to get started:
Posted by J Hopkins on Jun 7, 2011 in
General,
Pictures Max had a lot of fun this past weekend. He had on his vacation clothes in this pic (he must be ready to go to the Outer Banks, NC in a few weeks!)
Max had so much fun with Lauren at The Children’s Museum on Saturday, he couldn’t stay awake for the picture.
Posted by J Hopkins on Jun 3, 2011 in
General,
Pictures Max is playing outside in a “water castle” today at daycare. It’s basically a huge, inflatable play area with a sprinkler. He loves to splash in the pool, so I’m sure he’ll have a great time playing in the water with all of his friends.
Here he is, ready to go in his trunks, with Miss Tanya:
Update: Apparently most of the kids (including Max) were not particularly excited about playing in the water at 8:30 in the morning. Most got fussy and they bailed after a little while. Try Again soon!
Posted by J Hopkins on May 31, 2011 in
General,
Pictures We have now realized that we need to childproof much sooner than we expected. We are also having to childproof the childproofing. For example, we put the foam fireplace edge protectors on, but as soon as Max noticed the new addition, he immediately crawled over and began pulling and chewing on them. The double-sided sticky tape is no match for Mighty Max. Sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor seemed harmless as well, until Max crawled over to a chair and almost pulled it down on top of him. He’s not quite used to his own strength yet. We looked at the “top of the staircase” gates this weekend and realized we needed some precise measurements prior to making a purchase. The balusters at the top of the upper level are presenting a challenge as well. If you don’t know what a baluster is click here. (I had to look it up too.) I’m thinking that we use large strips of pegboard or something similiar, but Charity may decide on something more aesthetically pleasing.
Finally, the baby cams for the crib cannot attach to the crib, or anywhere near the crib, for that matter. I could not keep Max from crawling over, pulling himself up and pulling the camera, electric cord and all, into the crib within and then chewing on them for good measure. I can see now that this is going to be much more difficult than simply spying on our cats.
Posted by J Hopkins on May 28, 2011 in
General,
Video Max has been doing this “army” crawl for a few weeks now… He can pretty much get to anywhere he wants to go, so we are now in the process of baby proofing!
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