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.

Summer day

We went outside to enjoy a beautiful summer day (sunny and 88F/31C). Here Vic and Sam are hanging out at a park nearby.


And, of course, Sam misses his grandma Vera, who had to go back to Russia last week to help out with her second grandchild - Elena's brother's baby who is due to be born any day now. Here, Sam is hanging out with grandma before she left, asking her for any tips on how to create mischielf for his parents.

Tooth!

Yesterday Sam finally got a tooth. It's one of the front teeth on the bottom, on the left side. We are so excited! Right now you can barely see it but I am sure he'll be biting everything in sight in no time.

Sammy also learned a new fun game - opening chest drawers and sticking his fingers in between them. Too bad his parents were such party poopers and installed child-proof locks so he can't open the drawers anymore.


Sam went to hang out on the grass in our local park. Although he crawls at home all the time, he couldn't quite figure out how to crawl on the grass, but decided to try eating it instead (too bad the evil parents ruined that fun game as well and didn't let him indulge his grazing tendecies)

Sam is learning other new skills as well. He now experiments with putting things on top of each other, such as putting a toy on the table. He likes to gather his toys in his little basket as well. We also weighed him today and he is 25.6 lb (11.6 kg) - growing very fast.

VIDEO: Daddy + Pacifier = Sam LOL

This is what happened when Daddy tried to be funny :)

Historic Fosterfields Farm, Morristown, New Jersey

This is an operating farm that was preserved since the mid-19th century. Here, we got to see a demonstration of how the cows get milked.


Sam was really excited to meet some pigs.


The farm also had a collection of historic cars and carriages from the beginning of the 20th century, which used to belong to the family that owned the farm then. Sam: "Beep-beep"!

Watch out!

Photo op

We took Sam to the mall to take some photos of him. Here's how they came out:

He was a bit afraid at first but then really enjoyed the photo shoot.

Sam couldn't stay in one place even for a second!

Sam really liked this bear, he even started giggling when he saw it.

Patriotic Trip to Virginia

Since Elena just became a U.S. citizen in February, and Sam is also a newly born American citizen, we decided to take a patriotic trip to historic Virginia to learn more about the U.S. history.


Sam is defending the fort behind the barricades. Enemies have no chance! (War Museum at Newport News, Virginia).


Here we are at Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, Maryland. An important battle was fought here in 1814, and after the battle, the American flag was still standing, inspiring one of the participants of the battle, Francis Scott, to write the "Star-Spangled Banner" to honor the flag. It later became the anthem.


At fort McHenry, Sam is playing on the grass next to the flag, on the site where the original Star-Spangled Banner stood in 1814.


Sam is checking out WWII tanks.


It's much more fun to crawl on top of a tank than on the floor.


Naval Aviation memorial at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Sam also really liked the Norfolk Naval Base.


Sam is checking out the replica of the White House Oval Office. Sam: "I like this office. Can I be President when I grow up?"


With the statue of George Washington at the Presidents' Park in Williamsburg, VA.


And, of course, enjoying a family meal (at Ruby Tuesday).

Russian Women's Day, March 8th

Here we are celebrating the Russian "8th of March" holiday at home. This holiday is similar to the U.S. Mother's Day, but it honors not only mothers, but all women.

Dinner at Harold's Restaurant, in New Jersey

Sam says: "Yum!" Those fries are really that huge. And the pastrami sandwich was about 4 inches thick. Harold's is a famous deli that specializes in super-size portions.

Princeton University: shopping for colleges

With resume in hand, Sam decided to visit some colleges he might want to attend later on. Here he is checking out Princeton University, and was considering getting himself an orange and black t-shirt. Go Tigers!


Sam is checking out the French impressionist paintings at the Princeton Art Museum. This one by Manet.


Sam found this particular Roman sculpture amuzing (it's missing hands and nose!)

You Are Fired!

This is Sam's best immitation of Donald Trump. Do you like The Donald hairdo?

Sam's resume

Sam needed to apply for daycare schools. To be a more impressive candidate, he put together a resume:

Samuel Izmaylov
XX Hudson St Apt XX, Jersey City, NJ xxxxx
cutesammy@cutesammy.comxx

EDUCATION:
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (In Utero)
Listened to second-year business school classes, including Marketing, Finance and Management courses

Prenatal Yoga Classses (In Utero)
Learned to kick mom in any position, even suspended upside down or horizontally

Deutsche Bank Securities, AG
Helped mom study for the Global Markets Boot Camp training by "organizing" her finance notes, throwing them around and chewing on them

COMPUTER SKILLS:
Can bang on the keyboard with fists very loudly
Has his own blog, boyizmaylov.blogspot.com

LANGUAGE AND VERBAL SKILLS:
Says "dah-dah", "mmm-dah", "bah-bah", and "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma"

OTHER USEFUL SKILLS:
Can suck on his toes
Can throw toys at moving objects, such as his parents
Has a strong, resonant, commanding voice
Is able to fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting into the car

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Travelled to Mexico and Barbados in utero, and Florida at age 7 months
Became Dual Citizen at Age of 2 months (Russia and U.S.)

REFERENCES: Available upon request - please ask Noa Snook.

New Jersey Flower Show

Sam's mischievous smile gives away that he is plotting strategies about how to knock down the flowers and plants at the exhibit.


This is a Japanese garden display. The trees behind us are blooming, and it's February!

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Sam visited Fort Lee in New Jersey, which was an important fort during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. Here we are in front of a cannon.


Some historical artifacts.


The view of George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, from New Jersey to Manhattan.


Sam also visited Edison, New Jersey, the museum dedicated to the inventor of the light bulb. The tower behind him is the Edison Tower with a huge light bulb on top of it.