During dinner, we (try to) make the dogs stay out of the dining room. In the past Before Iliya, when we have let them stay in the room with us as we eat, they've had a pretty good record of just laying there. That is because Nathan & I are fairly careful to keep our food OFF of the floor. Now that we have a child, the dogs LOVE being in the room when we eat, because you just never know when the kid is gonna drop something in his lap & subsequently in the floor. Therefore, the dogs stay up underfoot more than they lay there anymore. So the dogs have been banned - though it's difficult to ban them - from the dining room while we eat.

But back to "all done." Iliya says it in his "Iliya" way. He also signs it when he's finished with something - typically a meal. We usually repeat it to him.

And most especially, if we are sitting at the table and the phrase is said...guess who come running? Yes, the dogs have successfully (and quite quickly) learned that "all done" means something along the lines of COME & GET IT!! Iliya has them trained...whether he knows it or not.

In response to Jane, unfortunately, the cat sitting behind Iliya is not a 'making friends' move. This cat - I love him. But he is also an opportunist of the most extreme kind. He takes all kinds of measures to stay away from Iliya - and if Iliya so much as looks at him, he hisses. If Iliya gets too close, he swats (no claws). This is our grumpy old man who doesn't care for kids and is only tolerant (to a point) of adults. Enter the opportunist side of him. He's also a FAT cat. He loves food, and that is the only way that he will even look in Iliya's direction. This cat would approach a bear if it meant he might get something to eat. So it would be cool to think he's trying to make friends with - or get close to - Iliya. But his nature is just not that of friendliness. Now our other cat, Mia? She is alright with the kiddo. Very tolerant & sometimes curious about him. Iliya has tried to sit on her (we're working on 'gentleness' with the pets) and she hasn't so much as lifted a paw in his direction. Bless her heart - I worry that her tolerance of him could get her hurt when we're not looking. But we're trying to be careful, and reallllly trying to teach Iliya how to treat animals.

In other news, Iliya had his first 'normal' pediatrician visit today. It went really well. We love this doctor - and we had a morning appointment...which means that we got there, & I didn't even have time to fill out the first half of the patient paperwork before we were called back to a room! Iliya had a basic checkup - an earwax buildup cleaning - and shots. Bless his heart at the shots. It took both Nathan & I to hold him - he had 5 shots & the TB skin test. He had shots in each leg & each arm...and we go back in 2 months for - I think - 4 more shots. I've been giving him Tylenol/Motrin, and he's been doing really well. A little cranky, but not too bad. Bless him. When the nurse came back in the room, right after the shots, Iliya started screaming again. Fortunately, she didn't have to do anything else to him - but he sure remembered her!

Well...gotta get the kiddo in the bath. As he would say, I'm "ALL DONE" with this blogpost!