I went to bed, last night, with the crawly skin feeling...and sure enough, around midnight, woke up with a full blown fever - accompanied by the usual chills, cold/hot feeling, achiness, and ah, yes, stomachache. I ended up taking off work today, mainly because of my lack of good sleep. But everytime I felt like I was feeling better and I got up and tried to do something productive, I would start feeling bad again. As of right now, I'm feeling somewhat better, if a little gross for staying cooped up all day.

But that's neither here nor there.

I came to tell you about my child. This will be a bit difficult to explain, because - in the grand scheme of things - our transition has been relatively easy (for which I am ever grateful). But for lack of a better explanation, there has been a change in Iliya that I had not really noticed until ...well, this past weekend. Bear with me - I will try to explain, though I don't know how effective I will be.

His attachment is still very solid, but he has really started extending himself toward other people -- people that we know & have a connection with (not just any stranger on the street). He is becoming more & more comfortable with hanging out by himself (i.e., without us in the exact same room) with close friends and family. He still loves making people laugh...so this is not such a new child. But it's a whole new "extroverted" that we seem to be seeing. If someone is telling a funny story or joke, and everyone else laughs, Iliya laughs, as though he "gets" the joke or fully appreciates (or understands!) the story.

We've always thought that Iliya was a wonderful child...but lately, it's been a different sort of "wonderful." He has been a true joy, and so much easier all around. He hasn't started talking, per se, but he has really opened up & become able to communicate his needs and wants (for instance, he'll take us by the hand and show us whatever it is that he wants us to see). When he gets upset...we are now able to more effectively redirect him & help him get past the upset and into "okay." (this is also often true in the throes of a meltdown). Instead of getting totally upset when he stumbles or when a toy gets away from him, he has started saying "Whooooooaaaaa!" and "Uh-oh!"

He may not completely understand consequences when I outline them for him before he does something...but when I say, "you know, if you pop that balloon, its going to scare you..." he at least seems to pay attention to my speaking the words.

He is becoming so much more tolerant of food prep (if he's really hungry, he will still whine some, but nothing like the screaming child we brought home from Russia). He is sleeping in his bed and seems to be more & more comfortable in that bed.

He still enjoys being with us, but he will play for short amounts of time - in a room without us (which can sometimes be a bad thing - remember the toilet paper incident?). But the key here is that he is learning to be more independent and not 100% reliant on us for every single thing - including his happiness.

His personality is just flourishing every day. So is his mischievousness.

And every day he shows us that he is making connections and some of the connections - or things he says - are hilarious. We look at pictures, and he often identifies objects & people - either by their name or by something he associates with them. You can see the wheels turning as he tries to solve a problem. He has really begun experimenting with the world around him (for instance - would the dog make a good stepstool to help me get up on the couch? - or - I wonder what would happen if I put my toy at the top of this slide and let go.)

It's nothing that I can really pinpoint or effectively explain, because as I have proofread this, I think "well, he's been doing a lot of this for a while now," but in a strange sort of way, it's all a little different now. A good different.

For some reason - I thought I was a pretty happy mom. But this weekend, I've realized that I've become a very happy mom. And I think it is because Iliya is really branching out - and while he still obviously needs me - I am better able to relate to him, and feel like I can actually do things with him. He's more inquisitive and doesn't think everything is food. He likes to snuggle, but also likes to play with the blocks while I am doing dishes.

Now, we still have our days but overall, it's a pretty happy time right now. It's a general feeling I have of this change, so I apologize that I haven't done a very good job explaining it. But for happiness, I'm really thankful.

And now, a few pictures from the weekend. Here is Iliya, hanging out & playing (in the laundry basket) ...and then sitting with dad, watching his favorite movie - the only television he will watch, "King Cole's Party." (<--click for more info)