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