My Kids (August 2005 - March 2007)

When I was wondering what to name this page, I realized that Joseph really is the Son of the Spanish Phrase of the Day. When I first met Lacy, I had only been writing the SPOTD for a few months. Her then-roommate, Cara Larson, was a recipient and this allowed me to get Lacy's e-mail address under the guise of adding her to the list. This led to regular correspondence, then a relationship, and finally, almost 3 years after our first meeting, to the birth of Joseph Edward Lowry III, the son of SPOTD.

17 March 2007
It's hard for me to imagine an age that is as much fun as Joseph's right now. At the same time it is a difficult age, but the speed of his development is amazing. He says new things all the time. He gets excited by it too.
I've added some new photos. In the first new one Joseph is walking in the woodsy part of my parent's backyard. In the second he and Nicole are having a "hwisy ride" as Joseph likes to say. The bottom left photo is Joseph enjoyed some of Lacy's salad (he'll eat almost anything). In the middle is Joseph with a phone (he loves the phone) and in the last he is enjoying some toast (who doesn't?).
I guess kids start to learn when things are funny, and even try a little comedy. Joseph does some funny things and especially likes to wrestle around, throw the ball, and build with his blocks. He looked at Lacy's belly today and called it a ball. We both got a kick out of that. It will be interesting to see how he is around his sister.


24 February 2007
I had one of those moments the other day. I was walking with Joseph to the playground near our house and I looked at this funny litle kid of mine and thought, "This is my son." It is a little surreal to think about having a child, raising a child, and everything that goes along with that. The time passes so fast. He is such a little sponge, sometimes he learns things that we don't even realize he is learning.


17 February 2007
We're having a lot of fun with Joseph. His new thing is singing. I've shown that in the video below. We wrestle a lot and he loves to be thrown around, especially on our bed. We are excited to move into our new house soon. We don't have much of a yard right now in our townhome and the new place will have a much larger space. Joseph is fun, sometimes a little crazy, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
He's learning to share and is a great eater. He chows down on every kind of fruit, loves bananas more than anything, and continues his obsession with The Wiggles. I can now sing most of the Wiggle songs from memory, but there are worse afflictions.

Lacy is closer and closer to the arrival of Lowry Baby Girl. No name yet, and we are keeping it a secret when we do come up with it, much to the consternation of the family. We are excited to have a little girl in our home. Joseph should be a good older brother.
14 January 2007
I made this little video of Joseph dancing and playing the other night. In the first part he is dancing to the Wiggles and even tries to stand on one foot. It's the first time that we realized that he knows the motions to the song. In the second one he is trying to catch up with the video camera, which leads to a Hollywood style chase in the living room.

12 January 2007
We had a great trip to San Diego and had a ton of fun with Lacy's family. I've included a few pictures from the trip above. Lacy's sister has also posted some great pictures on her blog.
Joseph is learning so fast. I plan to put together a little video that I took today of him dancing and chasing the camera. He is so smart (of course) and communicating just gets easier and easier. He loves to play and building has started to replace destroying as the game of choice. All in all good news.


15 December 2006
I've been a slacker lately, but much has happened. Joseph continues to get bigger and understand more and more. Among his favorite words are milk, Wiggles, and yeah. It is so much fun to be able to communicate with him more


20 October 2006
I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I last wrote. Joseph has been adding new things at a rapid clip lately. He treats everything like a telephone, from acorns to wheat thins. He loves to hold things to his face and say his own version of "hello."


27 September 2006
Today marked Joseph's 14 month birthday. The time continues to fly by, and today was a special day for me as well because, for the first time, Joseph got really sad when I left for the office. He has never been all that clingy with me, but when he saw me going through my normal "get ready to leave" routine he came over and wanted me to hold him. I picked him up, gave him a kiss and put him down to leave and he followed me to the door where I could see him crying (really crying) as I walked away. It was a proud moment for me. Who'd have thought that seeing my son cry could make me so happy?
I've added a few photos above, with the most recent ones being of Joseph's recent trip to California with his mommy. You should also check out this little video that I put together.


7 September 2006
Joseph is walking everywhere now. He spends very little time crawling, almost none really, and enjoys climbing all over the furniture. As you can see from the picture above, he has taken to sitting in my favorite chair.
He continues to grow and develop at a normal pace, and his antics are a lot of fun. He talks more than ever, sleeps well at night, and loves to play and wrestle with us. He is a fun guy.


5 August 2006
Joseph turned one year old last week, the 27th. We were in California with Lacy's family and spent the day at the Beach, where Joseph enjoyed his first cupcake (see last picture above). It was a fun day. Today we had a small party with family and friends in Gainesville (my birthday is today) and it was also fun, though the heat kept he and his cousins a bit subdued.
It has been a wonderful year. Despite some of the issues related to Joseph's heart, being a father is something that is rewarding and well worth whatever effort is required. Joseph is walking frequently, talking all the time, and getting into EVERYTHING, but I'd rather have a spunky kid like him.


4 July 2006
Joseph is 11 months old and he is so close to walking. He has taken a few unassisted steps, and he can tell by our reaction how excited it makes us. As soon as his bottom hits the ground he is smiling and clapping. He is a pretty stubborn kid too, and teaching him to leave certain things alone is a bear.
Besides saying "Mama" or "Dada" we heard him say hello today as I was passing the phone to Lacy. We weren't sure if he actually said it, but a moment later he did it again. Pretty exciting stuff. He really loves going to the beach and going to the pool, which is a lot of fun for us. As you can see in the picture above, he got a little tricycle as a new toy and it is fun to see him push it around.


18 June 2006
My first Father's day was a good one. We woke up bright and early (Thanks Joseph) and left Naples where we were attending a conference. Being a dad continues to be pretty great. My life has changed a great deal since Joseph was born and I wouldn't have it any other day. It is a remarkable thing to hold him and see his growth.


4 June 2006
Being a dad is a wonderful experience. Joseph doesn't sleep as long as we'd like, but aside from that he is pretty much as easy a baby as we could hope for. Watching him develop is remarkable too. It seems like new things just come to him. The other day he lifted himself up and took his hands off of the bouncy seat to stand unassisted. It was only for a few moments, but Lacy and I saw and when he fell back to the ground we cheered and clapped. Now he understood this was a good thing and began doing it a lot. He is able to stand for longer periods of time, and I guess this a precursor to walking around.
Joseph's favorite song is Upside Down by Jack Johnson. Its from the Curious George soundtrack and we heartily recommend it. Every time it comes on he starts to bob his head or wave his hands. He's always liked music, but responds most consistently to that one. Needless to say, we play it a lot, especially when he is eating. By the way, when a baby eats, it is messy- ME-EH-SSY. I'm still getting used to this, including my probably-futile effort to have a 'clean feeding.' No doubt other parents will call me a dreamer.


23 May 2006
The news on Joseph is all good. He stands up all the time and we have become well acquainted with several kinds of gates to find the one that works in our house. It is not a perfect solution for his newfound tendency to get into EVERYTHING, but it will do.
We've taken him swimming and he really seems to like the water.


29 April 2006
Joseph got sick with some kind of stomach bug. It was no fun, but after a few days he seems back to normal and we enjoyed a really fun visit by Ross & Lillie Biesinger and their daughter Sophia. Lillie is Lacy's sister. Sophia is adorable and she and Joseph had fun getting to know each other. I have attached some pictures on this page for you to see.


20 April 2006
Joseph is crawling like a champ, loves to clap his hands together, and can pull himself onto his feet by using furniture. It is fun to see him grow and develop.
We visited the cardiologist a week ago and they are very pleased with his progress. He continues to have a murmur, probably due to the way they repositioned his arteries during surgery, but the volume of bloodflow is very good. I hadn't been to a cardiologist visit since right after we returned from the hospital, so it was a little bit surprising how it felt to be in a doctor's office talking about his condition. He is doing well.


29 March 2006
Joseph has now executed some successful crawls and weighs almost 20 lbs. One of his favorite things is (when he is in a good mood) to have someone say 'Da da da.' He will then repeat it, sometimes doing this funny thing where he holds his breath and turns red. Its really funny. I would like to be able to day that his 'Da da da' refers to me, his da-da-dy, but I think it is just a fun syllable for him.
We did the March of Dimes WalkAmerica last weekend and Joseph was great for the entire 8.6 miles. It took one mid-Walk feeding and 2 diaper changes, but we made it through. It was fun to see a lot of other families and babies. We were glad to participate.


5 March 2006
Joseph is doing great. He is on the verge on crawling, just got his first two teeth, is eating solid foods (pureed at least), graduated to a bigger car seat, and gets to be more and more fun. His heart is strong and the cardiologists have been very pleased with the outcome of his corrective surgery. He has a slight murmur, but it may not cause any significant trouble down the road.
I am going to put together some clips of the baby to post on the web. It will be fun to show him off to some of you that are far away. More on that to come.


4 December 2005
It has been a few weeks since I've written anything about Joseph. He is now 16 & 1/2 pounds and more than 26 inches long, placing him in the 90-something percentile for height and the 75th for weight. He is more interactive with his surroundings and can stand up quite well, though not balance- one thing at a time folks.
We saw some of the new babies in our Church congregation yesterday, and it is amazing to think that he was ever that small. Lacy and I are so glad to have him. We set up our Christmas tree and decorations last night and it is fun to know that we will share this Christmas with our little Joseph. He continues to smile all the time and was a great little traveler during our Thanksgiving trip to San Diego. He is generally sleeping better at night, despite being a bit restless these last few nights after having his second set of immunizations.


17 November 2005
Joey is over fifteen pounds and getting very strong.


7 November 2005
Joseph continues to develop. He makes all kinds of fun noises now really likes to play. I know that these kinds of things must sound mundane, but every day has new surprises and fun new developments. He is getting stronger in his legs as well (I work them out on occasion- he'll be walking in a week, I know it).
He still doesn't sleep for very long periods at night. We're not sure when this will change, and have tried a few different things to remedy it. I've put some new pics in. I hope you like them. Most of these were taken over the past week or so. He is now almost 3 1/2 months old now.


31 October 2005
Sorry to all of you other parents, but my kid is just about the cutest around. Check out the new pics.


18 October 2005
Joseph III is now over 14 pounds. We can really see his growth. I think I mention this everytime, but he smiles most of the time that he is awake. It tends to slow me down in the morning, because I can't really ignore him when he is looking at me. It is great to see how he develops.


7 Oct 2005
Joey gets cuter and cuter. We are still working on the sleep thing, but its not such a bad thing when you pick him up out of the crib and he is smiling at you before too long. He loves music and likes to play. I don't think we could ask for a better kid.
I added some pictures below of J-III with his little friend Hunter White. They're not really aware of each other yet, but putting them on the ground together was fun.


30 Sept 2005
Joey has decided that he would rather wake up every 2 or 3 hours to eat at night, rather than sleeping for 4 or 5. He seems to have picked up his parent's taste for food. I think it may be an issue with how we wrap him at night. He is a wiggler, so sometimes his blanket comes undone and he wakes up. Funny kid. He really is an easy baby otherwise, and we are in more of a parental rhythm now than ever.


23 Sept 2005
Time rolls on as Joseph is over 12 pounds now. He smiles even more and has started making some really cute noises. He had his shots this week and took it like a pro.


15 Sept 2005
Joseph is over 11 pounds now and doing great. His second follow-up with the cardiologist here in Gainesville was even better than the first and everything is looking well. Joseph is smiling a lot now, and is a lot of fun for us to interact with.


7 Sept 2005
Yesterday Lacy went to a New Mother's Lunch at the hospital where J-III was born. While she was there, she weighed him and he is a whopping 10 1/2 pounds. That's my boy!


29 August 2005
I got Joseph to stop crying and smile at my today. It was a major breakthrough in the "When will he be more interactive?" watch. Lacy and I are sure that he is very advanced (what parent doesn't?). He had his first trip to Church yesterday as well, and performed like a pro. He enjoys taking walks in the stroller as well, which makes it nice for Lacy and I.


24 August 2005
Joseph continues to grow, now over 9lbs 4 ounces, having gained almost a pound in a week. You wouldn't even know that he had open-heart surgery except for the scar. We continue to be delighted by everything that he does. He seems to be focusing more on objects that he sees, and we are hoping to see more smiles out of him- this is supposed to be the timeframe where that happens.


17 August 2005
Joseph had his three week birthday and is doing fantastic. Since being discharged from the hospital he has almost regained his birthweight. We went to the pediatrician and cardiologist on Monday. Both were very pleased with Joseph's progress. Not a bad thing when the only good news is good news.