I have a feeling that - once my child reaches school age - he may log plenty of hours in with the principal. That sounds terrible, but I mean it in the best way possible. (IS that possible to mean it in a good way?) I'm a firm believer in the self-fulfilling prophesy. If you tell a child they are stong-willed...they will be strong-willed. If you tell a child they are bad...there's a good chance they will be bad. So - for fear of this principal 'prophesy' coming true, I just won't tell Iliya what I think. But I will share it with you.

My child is hilarious. And he feeds off of others' laughter. If he thinks you are laughing with him, then he will do whatever he's doing, ten-fold. He knows what makes people laugh and he does it. Lately, he can be in the middle of an all-out fit, and (not always, but most of the time), I can look at him funny, and he will forget whatever he's upset about and start laughing.

I believe we may be raising a class clown. If not a clown, then at least a person who marches to the beat of a different drummer.

Evidently, he was the ham-of-the-day at school today - as I walked down the hall to his classroom, I was stopped several times with, "have they told you what all Iliya did today?" When I walked in the room, his teacher said, "have you been in the booth today? Oh you missed it....." and she proceeded to tell me the funny things the child did today.

He is a pure joy to have at home, too. We have such happy evenings - most of the time. I won't say that we have perfect evenings - sometimes we are all exhausted and cranky (like last night; I won't even go there) - but the majority of our evenings are spent hanging out, laughing, and having fun. Nathan & I are learning how to pick our battles - we are not near perfect with that, and never will be - but we are learning what really matters and what is not worth the fight. For instance:

I've been picking Iliya up in the afternoons after snacktime (we are almost ready to stay all day!). He's been in a good mood and very happy to see me. When it's time to go, he does NOT want me to carry him (we are firmly planting ourselves in the "independence" stage - guess we'd better buckle in & hold on for that ride!). He also does NOT want me to hold his hand. Now, make no mistake - there are times that there is no choice in holding hands (outside in the parking lot, for one). But going down the hall of the daycare - as long as I'm not in a complete hurry...I'm just not going to fight with him on that one. (remember the lady I told you about that pooh-poohed on the non-poohbear theme for Iliya's room? Well, sometime later, after we were home - She gave me good advice one day. I ran in the vet's office, carrying Iliya, and she said, "what are you carrying him for?" I said, "it's easier!" She said, "girl, you slow down a little bit and go his pace sometimes. He needs that." So sometimes, we just slow down & go his pace).

But lately, do you know what he's been doing? He doesn't want me to carry him, doesn't want to hold my hand, but he'll get down on all fours, bark like a dog, and go wherever I want him to go. And sometimes I think that other parents will wonder what that weird kid is doing, and why that mom is letting her son act like a complete goof. But you know what, he is a KID. I want him to be creative and to grow up, thinking outside of the box. Not that I want him growing up, barking like a dog - but this is one of those things that we just won't fight him on. I grew up in a silly family - my parents expected us to be well-behaved but not stuffy. They never stifled our creativity (or even our weird eccetricies). My youngest brother, Johnathan, can make me laugh till my sides hurt. He can be outright goofy at times - but he is one of the kindest people, with one of the biggest hearts. (not to discount the kindness, funniness, or hearts of any of our other family)

But we can totally see Iliya marching right along to whatever drummer Johnathan hears. And you know what? That is okay by us. And if it means being a class clown...well, then we'd prefer that to being the class bully. And for us, the different drummer can be kinda fun.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a little video I took this afternoon to show you our newest little "dog." It's actually funnier at school, because we go down the hall like this (and he can get going pretty fast) but I thought this would give you a little insight into his dog personality (as well as a few other things).