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Giggling on the park swing


Wild bird chase

VIDEOS

Soccer player (check out the flashing of abs after he "scored"!)


Sam visits friends (and ransacks the place)


Sam test drives a new car


Tapping on the table

Snow day

We had a snow day here and Sam got all bundled up...

...and went to the mall. Coz that's where coooooool peeps hang.

Law of proportions

According to Sam, the right amount of items one should go to sleep with is as follows: 4 toys... and 8 books.

Over the past few weeks, Sam learned a lot of useful skills:

- Opening doors by twisting doorknobs. He especially likes to repeatedly open and close doors. We now have to lock our front door with a second lock because he can open the first one by twisting the knob from the inside.

- Turning lights on and off: he carries his chair around, puts it next to a table so he can climb on it, stands up in the table and reaches for the light switches and toggles them on and off about 50 times in a row. Fun times!

- Sammy also finally broke his safety gate completely. C'mon, the wooden planks were only about an inch wide! This is, like, for the weak! Given that the gate is no longer there to be broken, Sam occupies himself with the latest strength-training exercise: he pushes the stroller forward when its wheels are locked. He actually succeeds by pushing it forward a few feet sometimes.

- Sam learned how to put on his daddy's slippers, and tries to walk in them. Visualize somebody on short skis trying to walk across the living room, and you get the picture.

Hurricane Samuel

Calm before the storm


And the aftermath...


Mission Impossible - Total Annihilation: Complete.

Sammy is planning his future travels.


Sam: "Hmmm... which one of those must-see places should I travel to next?"


"But wherever I go, the local cuisine has to be good... I get hungry just thinking about it..."


"Speaking of travelling, I need to stock up on some travel gear from this catalog..."


"I am going to be a big nerd like my parents..."

Little Gym

Given how much Sam likes to run around, we figured it would be a good idea to sign him up for classes at the Little Gym. He especially likes the part where the soap bubbles appear.




Sam is climbing a mat at the little Gym.

"Hey mommy... why don't you teach me some of your fancy Wall Street accounting tricks?"

Here, Sam is getting ready to attend his cousin's Bat Mitzvah.

Sam's Survey

Sam's mom and dad had to fill out health surveys for their medical insurance provider. Since Sam is insured under the same plan, he thought he would add his two cents by filling out the survey too.

Q: Over the past 12 months, have you felt tension or stiffness or lack of flexibility in your spine?
A: That time I tried to suck on both of my big toes at the same time...

Q: Do you experience of moodiness or temper or angry outbursts?
A: When my parents don’t give me my favorite cookies.

Q: How satisfied are you with your job?
A: Seems like a pretty good gig… my meals are provided, there is always live entertainment, lots of opportunities for development, AND my boss insists on me taking a 3-hour nap in the middle of the day…

Q: Do you feel that you are overly concerned about small things?
A: I am very concerned about getting as many small things into my mouth as possible, although my parents usually don’t let me.

Q: Are you fidgety or restless; have difficulty sitting still?
A: Sitting still is for losers.

Q: Do you have good endurance and aerobic capacity?
A: Why walk when you can run? I jog all day long. Especially around the kitchen isle when my parents are trying to make food, and around the changing table when my parents are trying to change my diaper.

Q: Do you maintain physically challenging goals?
A: I try to stay in shape. My latest project is taking apart the living room couch by taking off all of its cushions and other soft parts and putting them on the floor, 5 reps daily.

Богатырская силушка!

Sam's great-grandfather was a royal guard for the Russian Tzar, recruited because of his 6.6-feet (2 meters) height, broad shoulders and great muscular strength. Sam seems to be taking after his ancestor. He shook and pulled the safety gate so hard that he pulled the screws out of the wall. We are now getting new industrial-strength gate holders. Maybe they will last another couple of weeks, and strengthen his arms (and legs) some more. By that time he should be able to bench-press 200 pounds.

When it comes to eating, Sam is pretty open minded. So far, he has never met a food he didn't like. Now that he has 7 teeth, he is able to enjoy a broader range of cuisines. Recently he tried (and liked) Indian food, tacos, humus, Russian borsch beet soup, salmon, turkey leg, white beans, zucchini, squash, eggs and all sorts of fruits, among other things.

VIDEO: Sam munches on plum

Being an avid reader that he is, Sam preordered the Amazon Kindle II on the internet weeks before it came out (for those of you not familiar with the Kindle, it is an electronic book reading device). Sam especially enjoys the built-in dictionary fuction, which he found can be used for looking up useful words like "Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia" (which means "the fear of long words").

Sam: "This piece of real estate is great fixer-upper... I can build a wall right here to create another bedroom, hang in a few shelves, throw in a few coats of paint..."

Sam thought he might want to become a gymnast when he grows up but decided that being in the 95th percentile in both weight and height among boys his age, he probably would not be very graceful while performing jumps with the pole, on uneven bars or pummel horse (believe it or not, he got into this position himself, unassisted).

"Check out what kind of hunk I am!"

VIDEO: Brain Freeze

This was Sam's first time eating an ice cream. He got a bit of a brain freeze - check out the face he made!

This photo is a bit out of focus, but it really captures what Sam does all day... he runs around REALLY fast!

Sam is plotting some mischief: "Hmmm... should I stick my hands in the refrigerator door, climb on a table, bang on the window, or bite somebody?"

2 VIDEOS

Rite of Passage


Block party


Sam masters new skills all the time. He can now stack 4 blocks, roll the ball and his cars back and forth, and imitate adults gestures (for example, throwing his hands on his head, clapping, and such). He is also currently growing his forth tooth (top front, left), which is now about half-way out.

Sam decided, why bother learning words when you can easily make your own? Two more new "words" in his vocabulary: "Brrrrmmm-brrrrm", which means "toy car", and "Ta-ta", which means "book".

We are transitioning Sam away from pacifiers, so he has taken to falling asleep with his favorite toy - books :)

VIDEOs

VIDEO: Merry Go Around


VIDEO: Giggling Sam


VIDEO: Dancing with the Stars


VIDEO: Sam is making a splash.

For some reason Sam really likes sharing his toys. While his mom was sitting on the couch, he brought all those toys you see one by one and gave them to mom. Happy with his work, Sam is resting on his laurels (or rather, on his pillows).


"Waiter, what are today's specials?" Sam is contemplating what to "order" while celebrating his cousin Jake's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory.


To make a good use of his library card, Sam went to check out some books at the library in the kids section.

Sam is quickly building his vocabulary. He understands lots of words, but can only say a handful at this time. The ones that come out consistenty: "Ammam" is "feed me", "Bah" is when something fell and needs to be picked up, and of course, "Papa", "Mama", and "Obama".

Just kidding about that last one. He is more of a libertarian (or maybe a liberal republican) in his political views.

East Jersey Old Towne Village, Piscataway, NJ

Today we went to visit East Jersey Old Town Village in Piscataway, NJ. The village consists of a collection of 18th and 19th century buildings, which were moved to this location in the middle of the 20th century, when the highways were being built and the buildings were in danger of being demolished. The village now consists of a tavern, school house, church, blacksmith shop, wheelmaker shop, and other buildings.

Here, Sam checks out the bar at the 18th century tavern house.


Of course he also needed to inspect the tavern's fireplace, too.


Behind Sam and Vic, there is a reconstructed 18th century room with some exhibits.


Sam: "I'm out of here! Posing for pictures is boring!"


Sam really enjoyed running around the various pathways and houses.


Kiyaaaaa!!! Sam is practicing his best Karate stance.


Sitting at a desk of the old school house.

So many places to go, so little time...


Fooling around at home.

Hanging out at our building's swimming pool.

Sam flashes a grand total of his 1 pearly white as he cuddles with a cozy towel after swimming.

Turtleback Zoo, West Orange, New Jersey

This was Sam's first trip to a zoo. He is starting to get interested in animals in general. Sam really enjoyed riding the Zoo Carousel.


We didn't get to see the real turtles, but Sam made good friends with this play one. He had a lot of fun running on this kiddie playground at the Zoo.

Sam checking out the Bald Eagles, which are the U.S. national symbol.

We also took a ride on the Zoo train. The train went around for about 5-7 minutes in forested area and passed near a beautiful lake. Sam giggled a lot and generally loved it.

VIDEO: Some kids like to stack toys, and some like to stack.... laundry bins.