Allow us to open this blog entry to thank everyone for coming to Mike's memorial this past Sunday. The memorial was a great way for family and friends to celebrate the life of Mike Lowey who was many things to many people. He was a son, brother, uncle, cousin and of course, friend. We will miss him but he will always have a place in the hearts of everyone's lives he touched.

John and Gail Lowey came to stay in Alameda for the memorial and here are a few pictures of Dexter in their hotel room.



Dexter thought he'd give John and Gail's bed a whirl by lying down on it. I'd say by the smile on his face that it felt juuuuusssssttttt right.



And here is Dexter enjoying his reflection with Grandpa John watching him in the background.



Even though it was Suzie's birthday (Happy Birthday, my sweet love!), it was Dexter who got some presents. Here's a hat from his Aunt Sharon and Uncle Todd.



Thanks Aunt Sharon and Uncle Todd.

Check it out, people. It's milestone time in the life of our little man. Just today, Dexter has mastered crawling forward! Go, Dexter, Go!

Last week we had lunch with Jakki, Andy and little Billie. It was hard to capture a good picture of Billie and Dexter. Whenever one would pose and smile, the other would just sit there. And when I say just sit there, I'm referring to our friend Dexter.



It's actually pretty tough to catch Dexter smiling. It's not that he doesn't smile, which he does a lot so he can flash his dimples, it's that our camera isn't quick enough to catch it. To make up for it, here's Billie smiling. Dexter is, well, he's looking out the window at something. He's got his dad's attention span.



Uncle CJ came by to have dinner with us the other day. Dexter insisted on showing off his piano to his uncle.



Dexter received a nice little gift of building blocks. To be quite honest, Dexter LOVES these blocks. He laughed a hearty laugh when we opened up the box for him and these cloth blocks came out. He can't get enough of them.



And I had a blast playing with him. I couldn't resist just placing the blocks on his head. Here he is laughing that hearty laugh. This little guy is so much fun.



That's it for now! Oh, but it should be noted that our little friend Dexter is starting to crawl forwards. He was able to crawl backwards but now can go forward...yippee!

We decided on a whim to wander around San Francisco the other day. Had breakfast in our old neighborhood of Noe Valley, then we went down to the Presidio (Crissy Field) for little walk. Here we are with a picturesque view of the Golden Gate Bridge.



Rebecca was up in San Francisco for Mac World. After a hard week of dealing with screaming Mac World attendees, Rebecca spent some time with a screaming Dexter.



And here is the trifecta of Suzie, Rebecca and Dexter. Great picture.



Whoa. What do we have here?



Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Yup, Dexter done got himself a little piano for the new year. It's never too early to start learning how to play!

The holidays are winding down now. All the giftwrapping is pretty much in the recyle bin, the tree has been composted, lights taken down. Gifts, however, are still being enjoyed. I have to say, my favorite gift so far are socks. But I digress; there are still pictures to be posted. Actually, this is the last batch of Christmas pictures.

Dexter had his first experience with snow while in Colorado. Seems that a snowstorm coincided with Dexter's arrival. This cute little picture was taken while out for a stroll down the street.



Grandpa John with his hands full with Dexter and Tanzer.



Grandma Gail helping Dexter get a ride on an antique rocking horse. He gave it quite a ride.



Look how cute this guy is. It warms my heart that Dexter is such a good boy and so very cute. Suzie and I are truly blessed to have this little guy be our son.



Christmas eve. Some cookies and milk were left out for Santa and some carrots left for Santa's reindeer. But guess who started taking big bites out of the carrots?



Dexter and I enjoying a little peek-a-boo action. Can you see the resemblance between the two of us? The matching skin color is a give-away.



Let's throw this one in to reinforce the cuteness factor.



And here we are back home in Alameda. Dexter's new fun time activity is to be put in a box with some toys. The little guy is as happy as a clam sitting in his box with some toys. Alas, he'll outgrow his box in no time at all.

You know what's funny? It was easier to write from Dexter's perspective than it is to write from our (Dexter's parents) perspective. Maybe it's just more fun imagining what Dexter would say. Hmph. Well, I guess it just takes getting used to; just like writing 2007 rather than writing 2006. Just takes some time is all.

So we're still going through pictures from our visit to Colorado. We've got almost 200 pictures on this trip alone! Thank heavens for digital photographs or we would seriously be in debt to Foto Shack or some other film developing place.

The expressions on Dexter's face whenever we take candid shots are priceless.



I would hate to be a professional photographer of children. You know that job at Babies R Us where they professionally take pictures in front of cheesy backdrops or old pieces of stained tulle trying to make a kid make a funny face. I'm pretty sure that this little gem of a face would take quite a while to get out of our little friend.



There's probably a little bit of an explanation needed here. Dexter is coming out of what the Loweys call "the dog oven". It's where Tanzer and Jasmine (Grandpa John's and Grandma Gail's lovable/energetic German Shorthairs) go to get away from it all and to stay nice and toasty; a small space underneath the couch which retains their heat. For whatever reason, right now Dexter only crawls (if you can call what he does crawling) in reverse. He backed right into the dog oven and is seen here emerging.



And here is mom having a laugh and Dexmas having a bit of Christmas egg nog. Ok, it wasn't egg nog, it was milk, but hey, he doesn't know the difference right now.

It's 2007. A new year is upon us. We here at the Dex Files have decided that we'd do a little change of perspective. We tried to write the blog from Dexter's perspective so now we've decided to write it from his parent's perspective. Also, we've decided to include pictures that don't necessarily have Dexter in them. Anyway, we (we being Dexter, Suzie and Ramon) hope that you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

With that said, let's start with the pictures. Here's a picture of Dex and Blake (Tonia's son) right before we left for Colorado for the Christmas holiday. The little guys had their very own mad hatter party.



First picture in Grand Junction, Colorado. The whole tribe flew out from Alameda to see Grandma Gail, Grandpa John, Auntie Katie, Auntie Libby and Uncle John. Here is Dexter with Grandpa John. Please note that the toy Dexter is trying to eat currently drives his father crazy.



And here's Dexter (freshly out of the bath and slathered with vaseline to help with the ever-present eczema) with Grandma Gail who we lovingly refer to as GG.



Here's Dexter with Aunt Katie and Aunt Libby. Surprisingly, Dexter was in a good mood after all his traveling and was kind enough to pose with his Aunties.



Dexter, Aunt Katie and Moose. Now you don't have to look that close to see some sly smiles on all their faces, like they're all in on a secret. Well, the secret's out: KATIE'S PREGNANT! Woo-hoo! Dexter is gonna have a cousin to grow up with. Cutie Coleman (our name for Coleman baby) is due in July 2007. So it seems 2007 is shaping up to be a great year so far.



Here's Cutie Coleman's dad, John, giving Dexter a hold. Dexter is a good training baby for soon-to-be parents.



I just think this picture is funny. Kind of like Dexter had too much egg nog to drink, only he didn't drink any egg nog.



Seems to me that Libby and Dexter had a really good time together during Christmas.



Suzie and Dexter hamming it up for the camera. Both so photogenic!



Sometimes we take pictures that are too precious. I mean, look at the happiness on this kid's face. Melts my heart to think that this little guy is my son.



Dexter and I in our usual lazy stance of lying on the floor with our bellies showing. Only in this case, it's just Dexter's belly showing.



This picture reminds me of a previous post in which Dexter fell asleep with my parents during Thanksgiving. Libby was fortunate to have Dexter fall asleep so easily in her arms. Such a cute picture of our little guy being lim-limmed by his Aunt Libby!



We'll round out this long and picture-plentiful entry with this Christmas picture. I was surprised that this little bundle came down the chimney without a lot of soot on him.

Mike Lowey
1969-2006

My brother. My friend. My sweet love.

He lived with extreme intensity and force, too powerful to be sustained.

Please join me in sending him the peace he so dearly needed in life.

I love you, Mikey.