Gracie - our chocolate lab - has been in our family since 2002. She has been through several moves and - before Iliya came along - has been my companion whenever Nathan has had to be gone due to military circumstances. She's a pretty flexible dog and thanks to my niece, had plenty of experience with children; nevertheless, I worried a little bit when we brought Iliya to the family...how would Gracie react?

And as most of my worries usually end up, they were for naught.

I think it helps that one of Iliya's responsibilities is to feed Gracie. You've seen the video of him feeding her - and I think that one act (though it's not AS fun for him anymore) has really brought them together. She sits by his door, waiting for him to wake up, and greets him with wagging tail in the morning, and he often hugs her neck as he walks down the hallway toward the kitchen. I've overheard him talking to her as he feeds her, saying things like, "now Gracie, just sit right there. I'm gonna feed you, now. I promise. But make sure you don't tee-tee in the floor. It's gross. You won't? Okay...you promise? Okay, that's good."

Perhaps my favorite is a few weeks ago, we were on our way to church and out of the blue, Iliya interrupted a conversation I was having with Nathan and said, "I love Gracie so much. I love to hug her. I want to marry her."

Of course, he won't marry her, but he really does love her. I'm pretty sure it's no longer "Us" and the dog...instead, I think Iliya has taken ownership, and it's now officially, The Boy and HIS Dog.