Iliya is growing and changing right before my very eyes. Sometimes I just can't believe how quickly he is changing. In fact, one day, he seems to be heading toward a particular stage of development, but not quite there. Then the next day (quite literally!), he does something that - at least in my mind - cements him right in that stage.

For instance, independence.

He has really been exploring his sense of "self" lately...figuring out all of the uses of me, my, mine, and I. He has said a lot of "MY Dada" and "MY home" and (especially if he sees something he really wants, regardless of whose it is) "MY sitdown(chair)". Sometimes we'll be talking, and he will randomly point to himself and shout, "MEEEEEEE!" So he's learning. His brain is moving constantly. He doesn't get it quite right all the time, though, because the other night, he was talking about his pajamas, and said, "I clothes!"

But I digress.

Along with this sense of self, he's figuring out that he can do things, make choices, and have control over his environment & those around him (I've got to tell you about how he is also learning that if mama says no, dada might just say yes. he's just not figured out that he can't try the manipulation tactics while in the presence of the other parent. anyway...). He has been working on being independent, so I've really felt like he has been moving steadily toward that stage of really needing to do things by himself. But yesterday afternoon came a drop of cement.

He & I were playing in the living room floor. I don't even remember what we were doing, but he was trying to tell me something and I wasn't getting it. It sounded something like this: "Lilladoodoodooit"... He kept telling me that, and I finally read his body language well enough to understand.

Iliya do it.

Aha! There's the cement. I had wondered when we would hear something like that, and here it is! It's the first time I've heard him say it. So I guess, now comes the part where we figure out that tricky balance of allowing him his needed independence, while not allowing him to bite off more than he can chew. We want to raise a little boy who will be able to think & do for himself...but know that we are there to support him.

Such exciting times. For so long, I counted words. At first, he gradually added words to his vocabulary, and then at some point (hard to pinpoint the actual moment), his vocabulary exploded to the point that I couldn't keep up with the new words he was learning. But now it's not only about the quantity of words. It's also about him figuring out the appropriate ways in which to use those words to really tell us something, rather than repeating what a cow says or naming everyone in the family.

I always thought that the growing mind was a cool thing. But to watch your very own child grow and figure things out and have a mind of his own. Now that's simply amazing.