Iliya has become quite the stinker...giving evidence to the theory that he is going to keep Nathan and me on our toes - probably for the rest of our lives! I love that he has such personality - and is really starting to think for himself. Consider the following:

In the mornings, one of Iliya's self-proclaimed jobs is to give Gracie (the dog) her breakfast. He loves doing it, and we figure that this is something that will translate into a lasting reponsibility, so we embrace it with full force. He also loves giving Gracie treats - but since we do not freely give treats to her, he doesn't get to do that as often as he would like.

Anyway, let me see if I can paint this scene for you. Yesterday morning, Iliya was up a little earlier than usual, and once he worked through his morning lethargy, he was ready to get his morning started. We were all in the same room and Gracie was sitting patiently waiting for her breakfast.

Iliya: (spying Gracie's treats in the top of the closet) Mama, I wanna give Gracie a treat.

Me: No, Iliya...I'm sorry, she hasn't had her breakfast yet. Maybe after breakfast.

Iliya: (turning to Gracie...getting down on her level and putting one hand on top of her head and the other under her chin) Gracie, do you want a treat, now?

Gracie: (with Iliya's help, nods her head)

Iliya: yeah? You do? (turning to me) See? Gracie said she wants a treat!

The boy looks out for his dog, don't you think? It was a really nice try, I thought!

I'm editing this post, because I don't know if everyone reads the comments. This is from Nathan:

Another good one:

(A couple days ago,) Iliya and I were finishing breakfast and Iliya asks where Mama is. I told him, "in there" and he says, "I wanna go in there." I told him he had to eat his vitamins first and he pauses, looks in the direction of the other room and then turns back to me and says..... "Mama wants me to eat my vitamins in there.

And just two more pieces of evidence that Nathan and I have our work cut out for us...because I'm quite sure, this is only the beginning!