First lesson in history

Sammy is 4.  She was learning about pilgrims before Thanksgiving at pre-school.

Sammy: "They didn't have beds or toys on the boat.  When they landed they were so happy.  Oh, and they didn't have any food."
Mommy: "So who brought them food?"
Sammy: "Natick Americans."

Who got me out of Mommy's tummy?

Samantha (almost 4 yrs old) "Mommy, when I was a baby and lived in your tummy, who got me out?  Was it a dentist?"

an insightful observation on a recent trip to the dentist

Babulya Shura's 80th birthday

This October we went to Maryland to visit Grandmom and Pop Pop and to celebrate Babulya Shura's 80th birthday.

Here are the pictures

Apple picking and other stuff

This september we went apple picking at Shelburn Farm with many families from ITA.  Sammy was in apple heaven.  She picked a huge bag of apples, quality assured them by biting into every 5th one, ate cider doughnuts, and introduced Sasha to everyone.

All september pictures (including Sammy with Sasha, Red Riding Hood costume, and Sammy with Sophia)

I also wanted to add a few of Sammy's cute phrases. Before you know it, she'll learn to say them correctly and it won't be any fun.
after morning = yesterday
I not knows = I don't know
box = Bach (referring to music in Daddy's car)
kak tebya popit' = shto ti hochesh pit' = what do you want to drink
every day = always

Happy 3rd Birthday to our little Princess

Our little Sammy is not so little anymore.  Last week, she turned 3 and we had a fabulous party. Babulya, Dedulya, Babulya Shura, Grandpa, and Nana all came to visit.  And Sophia, Sophie, Miles, and Mia came to help us celebrate, splash in the pool, blow bubbles, decorate party hats, and eat cake.

We have lots of pictures and videos of the event.

There is so much we wish you, our dear little girl (oops, sorry -- you are a "big goyle" now).  Be happy, and healthy, have many good friends, be loved and loving.

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere

The fall is here. We've never seen so many leaves in our life. Ok, maybe we've seen them, but definitely haven't cleaned them. This might be a lot of work, but jumping into huge piles of leaves is a lot of fun.

We went trick or treating for the first time.

This was one Teletubby on a mission!

More Fall 2009 pictures

We finally moved!

The big news is that we moved and got Sammy back. She was with Babulya i Dedulya in Baltimore for a month an a half and we missed her terribly. It's hard to describe everything that happened this summer, but here are the highlights:

Zia Gaia and Zio Jerome had a baby girl, Naima on June 29, 2009. Here she is with Sammy in September.

We moved to our new home in Natick. Sammy's first word when she saw the new house was "bolshoi / big"

Pra-babushka Shura came to visit us for a couple of weeks while her apartment was being remodeled. We had such a great time playing together and reading books.

We celebrated Daddy's and Mommy's birthdays and Sammy sang us "Habadaba to you!"

Sammy started new daycare at Miss Diane's and is peeing on the potty exceptionally well. Her favorite underwear are with Elmo, Abby, and Dora.

She came back from Baltimore knowing most of English letters and numbers up to 10 in English and Russian. She also started talking in Russian, which is very exciting for Mommy. Until now, most words were too hard for her to pronounce. One more summer with Babulya i Dedulya and we'll be ready for college.

Here are the rest of the pictures from August/September 2009.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Dear Sammy,

It's hard to believe it, but you are 2 years old! Welcome to official toddlerhood -- the land of running and jumping (preferably outside), painting and drawing (preferably on paper and not on furniture), potty training, pacie weaning, exploring every stick, rock, and leaf, and making new friends.

Over the weekend we celebrated your birthday at Babulya and Dedulya's in Baltimore (here are all the pictures). As all birthdays, this one was eventful. The day before, Daddy got sick, the fridge broke, a light bulb shattered on the kitchen floor, and we found a smallwasp nest on the porch. Mommy and Grandma were a nervous wreck. But in spite of all this, the party was wonderful and you had a great time. Ethan and Joey came over, Babulya set up a water table on the porch, and you all had a great time splashing around, washing babies, and blowing bubbles.

Then it was pizza time.

And finally cake time. By that time, all the kids were toast. You got a bit confused about all the people staring at you and singing, but once the cake was cut you figured it was all good.

The next day, we went to visit Grandma Louise.

There were more bubbles, more presents, and more cake. You also got to see tomatoes and an interesting bug. Aren't birthdays fun!

We wish you great health, a wonderful time with Babulya and Dedulya this summer, lots of interesting discoveries, and new friends. We wish you to grow up happy, loved, and loving. We wish you strong will and kind heart. We miss you terribly and can't wait to hug you, kiss you, tickle you, and show you our new home.

We want to remember what you were like when you were two. We know you'll be completely different and probably chatting away when we pick you up in August. Every day you learn something new and it's so hard to capture it all. Here is just a little snippet of it.

• You are incredibly cute when you say "Big" (with a long g) and "maya-maya" for "little"


• You call lady bugs "cow" because in Russian they are called bozhya korovka (God's little cow)


• You are an excellent Mommy to your dolls. You put sunblock on them and take them for a walk in the little doll stroller. You make sure they are entertained with rocks and flowers, and touch their noses to make sure they are not cold.
• You LOVE to paint. You also like it when I paint for you. Usually you ask me to paint Babulya i Dedulya, then Tyler and Andrew.
• You love bubbles and baloons (you call both of them "bubbles")
• You love to "go, go, go! do, do, do!"
• You love pasta and gnocchi (you call them "yuckie"), arbuzik (watermellon), strawberries, blueberries, brussel sprouts, salmon, and caviar
• You love playing in the sandbox and falling into the balls at My Gym

One day you'll grow up and all this will be hard to imagine. Thank you for bringing so much joy to our life and making us see the world with new eyes.

All our love, hugs, and kisses,

-Mommiya and Daddiya*

* "ya" is the suffix you made up to express your affection. You often call us Mommiya and Daddiya

May 2009

May has been a busy month. We have a ton of pictures, but unfortunately, no time to blog. Some highlights were Mother's Day in Baltimore and picnic with Gaia and Jerome at DeCordova. We've been spending lots of time on the playground lately (see the pictures). We can now climb up and go down slides all on our own.

Oh say can you say?

New pictures (play dough magic, making soup, changing baby's diaper)

What a winter it's been! After never ending open houses, we finally found our new home. Sammy came to the inspection and gave us her seal of approval by taking a nice long nap in the new house. More about the house later. What I really wanted to write about is that our kiddo is talking. She's been saying so many new words that I want to capture them all before I forget what they were. Some of them require a translation from Samanthese to English.

English words:

• "Mantha" -- Samantha
• "Biyaba, biyaba, biya-biyaba" -- Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
• "Wizi" -- Kiwi
• "Kaka" -- cracker
• "Ea" - eat
• "Abaka" -- Aquaphore
• Apple
• Cheese
• Pasta
• Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth, Teeth
• Shoes, Hat
• Tree
• Snow (pronounced as "no")
• Water
• Paccy
• Me too!

Russian words:

• "Dulya" -- Dedulya (Grandpa), also used to refer to Grandma
• "Baba" -- Babushka (Grandma)
• Apelsin -- Orange
• Nozh -- Knife
• Oblako -- Cloud
• Kukla -- Doll
• Peet' - Drink
• Voda -- Water
• Palka -- stick
• Krug, romb, oval -- Circle, diamond, oval

We've been playing with play dough and painting a lot too.

Great Grandfather Borya

Dear Samantha,

I am writing this from San Francisco. Your Great Grandfather, Boruch Grinberg (I used to call him Dedushka Borya) passed away. You never got to meet him, so I wanted to tell you about this great man.

The thing I remember the most about Dedushka Borya is his smile. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing him without it. He could see humor in every situation. How else could one go through World War II, get an education while bringing up 2 children, move to the other part of the world in his seventies, and stay in a difficult marriage without losing his dignity?

Another thing I remember so well about Dedushka Borya is his camera. The first one he got as a teenager was the one he made himself. Just like his smile, it was almost another part of his body -- completely inseparable from him. Dedushka had a bottomless curiosity about the world. He wanted to take everything apart and understand how things worked. He saw beauty everywhere he went and wanted to commit it all to memory with his camera.

Your Great Grandpa loved to travel as close as the other part of his city and as far as the other part of the world. If you could get there by foot, he walked. I spent the summer with him and Grandma in Lvov when I was 11. He gave me a map of the city and told me to go exploring. Every morning I set out on a new expedition. Maybe that's how I got the walking bug; maybe it's genes. I thank him for it every time I get somewhere on my own two feet. Transporting yourself with your own body is one of the biggest joys of being alive. Who knows -- you might be a great walker one day. At your ripe age of 19 months, you refuse to sit in the stroller and walked 1/4 mile the other day.

Last and most important thing I want to tell you about your Great Grandpa -- he saw the good in every person, and loved unconditionally. He taught me that life is not a game of settling scores. It's an opportunity to see the humanity in others. He thought of himself as a rich man because he had so much to give. He did so for 92 years, till his last day.

Even though the two of you have never met, he thought about you since the day you were born, and loved you very much. Part of him is in you, in me, and in everyone his life touched.

Love you very much,

-Mommy

Christmas 2008

December 2008 and Christmas pictures are up. Here are the highlights.

I helped decorate the tree.

Santa came to Ms. Sophie's and brought me a tea set. Want some tea?

Tea party with Mr. Bear

Babulya's strudel

Musical cards are fun! Thank you Grandma Louise.

Grandma sent me a stroller with a baby doll. Being Mommy is fun. I get to feed the baby, take the baby on walks, get the baby dressed, and even check for poopies.

Look what Daddy gave Mommy for Christmas! I like playing the piano too and I can say Bach.

Accessorizing

What do you think of this bag with these jammies? I don't think they really go together.

I think it's time for a little shopping. Ta-ta, Mommy and Daddy.

I am off to Bloomingdale's.

Walking

Look, Ma -- no hands!

We've been making a few little steps here and there before, but on October 11, 2008, we made whole 9 steps all by ourselves on the playground.

We are now officially on the move.

We also LOVE to talk on the phone. We see Mommy and Daddy doing it all the time, and now that we tried it, we see how easy it is. You just pick up whatever is near you (a computer mouse or even a fridge magnet will do fine) and talk into it. See! Start the conversation with "ha-ya." Never fails to make Mommy and Daddy stop whatever they are doing and to talk to you.

First steps with Babulya i Dedulya

Babulya i Dedulya came to visit in the end of September. We went to the playground and made our first few steps.

Picnic and the beach

New pictures are finally up.

We went on a picnic to Decordova Museum with Zia Gaia and Zio Jerome around Labor Day.

We also went to the Cape (Wellfleet) and saw the ocean for the first time. It was way more water than in the bath tub!

Happy First Birthday!

Our dear Samantha,

One year ago, you pushed your way into the world, and we got to meet you and hold you for the very first time. It was the happiest and most miraculous moment of our life. The last year was filled with so much joy and unforgettable "firsts." Your first smile, first roll-over, first tooth, first crawl, first word, and of course, your first birthday party.

Grandma Louise came to visit for your birthday weekend and brought you all kinds of goodies. Daddy decorated the dining room with streamers, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet, and Mommy cooked all sort of yummies. At 11:45am, the doorbell rang and we went to get the door for Zia Gaia and Zio Jerome. But guess what? Surprise!!! It was Babulya and Dedulya! They drove over all the way from Baltimore without telling us. How could they miss your first birthday?! Zia Gaia and Zio Jerome came a few minutes later.

We had a lovely lunch and you got to try your first Earl Gray Chiffon cake.

It just occurred to me that on your first birthday, you were surrounded by 7 people who love so much (it's that number 7 again ;) We wish you many more birthdays filled with people you love and who love you.

• We wish you health.
  
• We wish you true happiness -- the kind that can only come from loving someone and being loved back.
  
• We wish you to have friends -- not many, but a few good ones.
  
• We wish you laughter, even in difficult situations.
  
• We wish you to have faith in yourself and others.
  
• We wish you to grow up all that you can be.
  

All our love, hugs, and kisses,

-Mama and Dada

p.s. more birthday pictures

We are on the move...

Hey, don't look at me -- it's not my fault this blog has not been updated. I keep trying to crawl out of my room and start blogging, but Mommy puts up this annoying gate to keep me in my room.

We are 11 months old and life has been getting busier and busier. We are crawling, standing, pulling ourselves up, growing a ton of teeth (we have 6 now), and reading. Our favorite book is about a little hungry caterpillar.

We also like to help around the house. While Mommy was doing dishes in the kitchen, I thought I'll make her a surprise and clean up my room. Good thing I found the paper towels.

I was giving Grandma and Grandpa a tour of Boston while Mommy and Daddy went to Montreal on their anniversary. It was so much fun! I took them everywhere -- restaurants, playgrounds, parks...

I love it when Dima and Sasha come to play. Dima shows me how to get around the child-proofing things Mommy and Daddy installed to keep us from the real fun stuff. Pst -- quick, come here. I highly recommend my Mommy's slippers. The straps make excellent teethers. But we have to be quick, or Mom will take them away.

Sasha reminds us that legal toys can be fun too. See -- we are playing so nicely with our bunnies and bears. And we don't forget to drink. Not always from our own cups, though.