Tummy time

Sam is starting to lift his head while on his tummy. He also tries to move his hands and legs as if he is trying to crawl (but of course it's too early for that). He likes being on the tummy as it gives him a new and different view of the world :)

First hint of a smile

Sam has started smiling at 5 weeks. He now shows us these social smiles many times a day, especially when we play with him and when he hears loud syllables like " bah!", "Dah" or "Mah!". He likes when we speak his language. The smiles so far are very fleeting (they last just a couple of seconds) so they are hard to capture on camera, but we are trying. Stay tuned for a super-wide grin we are going to capture one of these days!

Family barbeque

Sam met so many new relatives and played so hard that he fell asleep while the group photo was being taken :) Would you be able to sleep in this position?


Sam is hanging out with both grandmas - Vera (Elena's mom, left) and Galina (Vic's mom).

Vampire attacks!!!

Here Sam is trying to bite on daddy's neck. Lucky he doesn't have his teeth yet!

Sam is 1 month old on June 18th

Sam had a busy 1st month birthday. He helped his dad with work on the computer, modeled some new outfits, played with his mom and grandma, and took a bath! Life is so hectic for Sam... He is 10 pounds, 7 ounces today - he seems to be gaining weight by the hour :) . He is enjoying looking at people's faces, playing with his Tigger toy, turns his whole head to track moving objects. We've also seen a couple of first smiles but haven't been able to capture them on camera yet. I am sure more of them are coming!

Playtime!

Vic tried teaching Sam the basics of argumentation and debate, but as you can see Sam much prefers simpler pleasures like playing with his boppy pillow and hanging out on the changing table.

Sam gets his first letter in the mail

A letter arrived in the mail that was addressed to Sam - his first letter! Don't get too excited though - it was his birth certificate. This is really fun for Vic and me though because we were both born outside of the US and don't have birth certificates like this. We had to work long and hard to get our US citizenships, but Sam gets his by virtue of his birthright :)

Daddy and Sam spending some quality time (watching Soccer Eurocup)

First Trip to the Doctor

During the first trip the doctor (when he was 10 days old), he got checked out and weighted. He was 9 pounds (comparing to his birth weight of 8 pounds 4 oz), so he's gaining weight well (as you can probably see from his cheeks).

First Bath!

His cord fell off when he was 11 days old, and we gave him his first tub bath. He seemed to like the warm water.

He is finally here!

Sam (full name Samuel Michael Izmaylov) was born on Sunday, May 18th, at 12:38pm. He waited until about 12 days past his due date to appear (I guess he was very comfy in there :) ). Sam waited until I was done with all my exams and until my (Elena's) parents arrived to Philadelphia from Russia on the evening of May 17th. I went into labor around 6 pm on the 17th (just as my parents were landing at JFK), and Sam arrived about 18 hours later.

Sam is 8 lbs 4 oz (3.750 kg), and is 21 inches tall (53.5 cm).

We stayed at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia for 2 days and then moved to Jersey City, NJ (across the river from New York City) right away. Pretty crazy, but it worked for us! Now we are largely unpacked, and my parents and Vic are a huge help with the baby, changing him and soothing him to sleep and helping with the night feeds.

39 weeks - almost there!

I can't believe I only have just over a week left until my due date. Vic and I (especially Vic!) are looking forward to meeting our baby boy. I think the baby will have a definite affinity towards real estate investments and strategic implementation (I am busy studying for exams in those subjects right now). Vic and I have also been enjoying our last childless days together - going out for dinner, watching Scrubs and all the good stuff.

35 weeks - it's coming up!

Today I went for another ultrasound (my doctor does them routinely at 35 weeks to check for baby's growth). Here's the latest picture (it's his head on the right, view from the side). Everything looks normal, and the baby is exactly the average size for this point in the pregnancy. The doctor estimated that he weighs about 6 pounds 3 ounces right now (about 2.8 kg). He also confirmed that it's a boy by showing me all the important parts prominently on the ultrasound :)

3/7/08, 31 weeks pregnant
Two months until my due date as of yesterday...
so far everything is going great. I had a doctor appointment today and got to hear my little boy's heartbeat again. It's so sweet.


Vic practicing parenting skills with our friends Sarah and Nathan's daughter Noa, 1/16/08
I look forward to our baby boy getting to know Noa, since they are going to be only about 4 months apart in age and will both live in Jersey City, NJ.









Trip to Barbados with Vic on our "baby- moon", 1/11/08.
Doing some nursery research here... In this picture we are visiting a plantation house from the 1800's. This is what a baby nursery would have looked like in the colonial times!



Vacation with Vic in Cancun. 12/20/07, 20 weeks pregnant.
That's a picture of me at 4-months pregnant in December during a trip to Mexico, when I was just starting to show. I am working on having that picture updated to show my now much-bigger belly :)


First-ever ultrasound, 9/21/07, 8 weeks pregnant
Taken on 9/21/07, when I was about 8 weeks along. He's facing head down, and that blurry round thing at the bottom is the placenta that's feeding him. At that point we didn't know it is going to be a "he", though. It's amazing that even though he was so small at the time, he already had a heartbeat!