Historic Speedwell, Morristown, NJ

Sam now has 2 Teeth! Check out his two bottom incisors.


VIDEO: Sam goes checks out an exhibit at the museum.


Sam in front of a historic cottage dating from 1700's, which was a house for a local judge and a factory owner Samuel Vail.


Checking out the local lake belonging to the village. In the old times, they collected ice from this lake in the winter and stored it underground in the summer to cool food.


VIDEO: Wild Geese Chase :)

Garden Tour on Memorial Day

Chilling... (Avis Campbell Gardens in Montclair, NJ). Sam had fun hanging out on the grass. He especially liked walking around a bench in the garden and picking grass.


Sam also learned how to unzip his bedsheet. There is a zipper on four sizes of the bed, and Sam unzips the sheet on all four sides (!). Perhaps it's more fashionable to sleep without the sheet these days... Sam's a member of the younger generation, he would know.

And the winner of the "Biggest Gainer" Contest is... Sam!

JERSEY CITY, NJ - Never has gaining been so satisfying! For the past year, Jersey City's Biggest Gainer contestant Sam Izmaylov has been working to take control of his life and gain a lot of pounds. "This journey has been wonderful! It's been tough, but wonderful. It's totally changed my life," Sam said. Sam gained a total of 19 pounds, or 238% of his starting body weight of just over 8 pounds at birth, by consuming countless calories during intense eating sessions on a 24-hour schedule, and bouncing around the crib and the apartment, ending at the final weight of just under 27 pounds. This means he more than tripped in size!

"It's definitely self perpetuating, because every time I see the height and pounds go up, every time I put on a new shirt, I can't believe I need the next size up. I was wearing "0-3 months" size before", Sam said. "I feel like a new person. Now people take me more seriously."

In interviews to the press, Sam acknowledged the "Grandma Diet" as the main factor helping him win this contest. One of the Grandmas could not be immediately reached for comment. The other Grandma declined to comment and asked not to be identified, because the information is private.


Sam's height at birth, represented on the measuring tape (Before) and as a 1-year old (After)


Sam's clothes as at birth (Before) and as a 1-year old (After)


Sam's daily food consumption at birth was 16 oz of mommy's milk (Before) and lots of other food as a 1-year old (After)

Sam turns 1 year old

Today Sam turned 1 year old! It's hard to believe. It seems only yesterday that he was a kicking and screaming 8-pound newborn, and now he's a bouncing 27-pound toddler! Dad celebrates by giving Sam a horsey ride.

This is how Sammy looked as a newborn:

(Not Uncle) Sam Opines on the Proposed Tax Reform

Here's the dialogue I recently had with Sam:

Elena: "Sam, what do you think about the upcoming tax reform?"
Sam: "Eeewwwwwww!"

Elena: "It sucks that taxes are increasing, doesn't it?"
Sam: [makes a sucking noise]

Elena: "Did you hear, there are going to be withholdings on carried interest allocations from certain disqualified interests in entities receiving services, including convertible and contingent debt, options and derivative instruments! What do you think the implications will be?
Sam: "Hhhmmmmmmm...."

Elena: "Sounds like it's time for you to set up an entity in the Cayman islands to take advantage of these changes"
Sam: Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah"

Elena: "What do you think of the proposal to tax the health care benefits provided by the employer?"
Sam: "Boooooooooooo"

Elena: "Are you going to ever vote for people who implement such huge tax increases?"
Sam: Naaaaaaeeee"

Sam's date with Xenia

Elena's best friend from college Xenia kindly offered to babysit Sam while his parents did boring stuff like packing boxes for their move to a new apartment. Xenia and Sam went to the Rockefeller park in New York and had a lot of fun playing on the grass. (Pictures courtesy of Xenia)


Gatorade bottle was his favorite toy of the day. Xenia later revealed Sam's intentions: as a future athlete Sam is planning to switch from milk to Gatorade soon!


Sam loved practicing his new walking skills on the grass.

Sam learns to walk

Today Sam started walking for the first time. He was standing leaning on his playtable, and when daddy called him, he started walking towards him and took 4 or 5 steps on his own, without support, into daddy's hands. He did that a couple of times. We haven't caught it on tape or on photo yet, but we will try to do that soon.

First Passport

Being an avid traveler that he is, Sam decided that at his advanced age, he just couldn't do without a passport. Now he's ready to be a global trotter! The details were whited out just in case.

Sam entertains guests

Sam had his friend Noa and her parents come for a visit. The kids are a little small to be able to really play games together, but they had fun checking out each other's toys. In the photo, you can see, left to right, Sam, Noa and Sarah.

"Photo Op"

Obama's Airforce One airplane was seen right outside our window, circling for half an hour at a very low altitude, closely followed by a military fighter jet. They maintained that it was done for a "photo opportunity" with the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Kind of freaked people out. Sam remained calm. He loves looking outside the window and now recognizes the Russian word for "helicopter", because we see so many of them every day from a tourist helipad nearby.