muscle man

Welcome to Joseph's Pre-Bath Show of Strength. Just look at those muscles/rolls.

 

finally

Joseph's blanket is finally complete... it didn't take long to make... it just took a long time to get started (it's been on the 'to do' list since I got off work in November). But Joseph proved to be very helpful in making the blanket... he decided he wanted a giraffe on it, he sang to me while I tied up the ends, and he gave his stamp of approval by puking on it immediately when it was finished.

 

race against time...

... to wear all these clothes that we just realized Joseph fits into. This monkey outfit is from the Hansens... thanks, Hansens! Joseph is, in fact, a little monkey. 

thanks for the thanks

An open letter of thanks to whoever made and sent us these Thank You cards... Joseph is excited to have his own stationery.

What a very nice surprise, so thank you! Joseph would send you a card, if only he knew who to send it to!

daddy and joe

springing

Good-bye winter... hello S-P-R-I-N-G...

St. Joseph, pray for us

Happy March 19th, the Feast Day of St. Joseph!

When Joseph is a little older, we will celebrate this day with cupcakes and a special prayer. But because our little Joseph is only three months, we celebrated with milk and a special prayer.

Dear St. Joseph, you are an outstanding model of one who strove for holiness every day of your life on earth. Obtain for us the grace to strive for Christian perfection in all that we do or say. Help us to keep the Commandments of God and of His Holy Church and to practice the Evangelical Counsels in the way that applies to our state of life. Give us such an awareness of God's mercies that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth His praise, not only with our lips, but also in our lives. Let us give ourselves to His service and walk before Him in holiness and righteousness all our days. May we then attain to that holiness which you and Mary now enjoy with all the Saints in the presence of the Blessed Trinity. Amen.

(This prayer is perhaps a bit tricky for a little guy to understand so we're looking for some more age appropriate ones. In the meantime, Joseph is learning what Evangelical Counsels are and how they apply to his state of life.)

We celebrated Joseph's name day today by making a very special purchase... a Jolly Jumper. Oh my, oh my - Joseph loves to jump! Pictures and videos will be coming shortly... today we were laughing too hard to be able to focus.

book worm

He likes to look at the pictures. Or read to himself. I'm not sure which.

trois

Joseph is three months today. He let me take these pictures.






Now that he has graduated from size 0-3 month clothes to 3-6 month, Joseph can...
1) find his fists and stuff them in his mouth... usually partial fingers of each hand at the same time, but if he could shove both whole fists in at the same time he would;
2) amuse himself by looking and laughing at his toes;
3) drool a whole lot;
4) puke, puke, puke;
5) sing. He particularly enjoys "You are My Sunshine," "Heart and Soul," and "Amazing Grace." Watch for his mix tapes in stores soon;
6) catch our eye from across the room and draw us in by his cuteness and charm;
7) sleep... cat-napper by day, pro-sleeper by night. His midday sleeps are only about 20 minutes, and his record overnight sleep went from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.;
8) navigate. He likes to know where he is going and will twist and turn his body until he has the best view;
9) talk on the phone to Grammie and Papa; and
10) eat way faster. What once took 45-60 minutes now takes 20. There are so many more things to be doing besides eating now that Joseph is three months.

par-tay

The Kantors went to a party and this is what we wore:

Happy Birthday, Fr. Tom! We had a great time at your party and Joseph apologizes for crying through the piano solo. But he was trying to sleep.

Happy Happy Happy

It's Gillian's big day today, and on top of numerous phone messages and emails, a lovely bouquet of flowers from Ireland and Kaycee, and a delicious meal of sweet and sour meatballs by chef Andrea, there was one gift that was undoubtedly Gillian's favourite ....

A visit from her Dad! Joseph, with his green tractor shirt, wanted to hear the latest on certified seed regulations from his Papa.

Part of the day included a walk ... or run? ... with Papa, Joseph ...

... Lily and Andrea.

It was a good day ... and among his bag of tricks, Joseph treated everyone to some monumental pukes (if you zoom in on this picture, you'll see Joseph just about to puke onto his already soaking shirt).

But all is well ... with the day ending with a yummy chocolate cake. Make a wish!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

we have a brown cow-ch

8 on 8

Happy 8th Birthday Matty-Matt. We love you and all that mush.

ice ice baby

Joseph had a taste of hockey on Saturday (watching, not playing... first comes hand/foot coordination and then we'll think about strapping blades onto his feet). We went to cousin Jonathan's hockey game... a hard-fought battle that saw them lose 4-1. Better luck next time, chillonline.ca (I don't know the team name, but that's what it said on the back of their jerseys).

Joseph watched the kids whiz by on their skates... his way of saying he loves the sport and can't wait to watch cousin Matt's and Uncle Jason's teams play someday. Alas, he will have to learn about the game from his cousins and uncles... despite my sitting in the stands watching Jason play for most of my childhood, I still have no idea what offside means. And I can't skate. I am an embarrassment to my country.

Here are the Kantor Men watching the action...


And that's Jonathan... number 17.

sitting up

Not to be confused with "spitting up" ... which is another popular activity in our house.

Joseph has a few minutes of bumbo time every day. He sits in it and I dance around in front of him to keep him entertained. He's getting stronger and bigger and bigger and stronger. And smilier.



And this is his "I'm tolerating this picture-taking but my interest is waning" face. Thanks Joseph.

Joseph's crib

It's bedtime at the Kantor household. 10 p.m. Joseph likes to hang out with his parents for as long as possible, eyelids drooping but hanging on to the attention, but soon the lure of the crib overcomes and he's in dreamland.

We're happy with Joseph's new found love of sleep... an average night has him sleeping from 10 p.m. until about 5 a.m. Or 6 a.m. Or 4 a.m. He doesn't tell us which time the night before... he just keeps us guessing. Even still, it's a good stretch of sleep. Well, for Joseph. It would be for us too... but now we're doing chores.

a bonne fete weekend

Aaaahhh... a fun weekend of Kantor Birthday fun... Joseph and I did our best to spoil David with love and cake. David says we succeeded, so yippee!!

Here's a rundown of the events...

Friday night we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Fishbones (Friday in Lent... so therefore a fish restaurant... but it was not really a sacrifice...). Then home for prezzies and cake.










But one day of celebration wasn't enough, so we made Saturday David's Birthday Boxing Day. Saturday started a major sleep-in by David and Joseph while I made breakfast. Here's Joseph, swimming in David's chest hair.


Okay, now put the picture out of your head. It's breakfast time! We enjoyed a German Breakfast... I did my best to replicate the amazing breakfast buffet we indulged in last year at Cafe extrablatt in Dueren.


Then off for a walk down to Lakeshore. Voila - Lake Ontario.


And then... more love and cake. We went to the Kantor Parents to celebrate the birthdays of David, Dad Kantor, and me.

Kantor cousins...


And Kantor cupcakes...


So, in summary, Birthdays = Love + Cake.