Ilya x 1000

I'll be the first to admit that Ilya has his "toddler moments" from time to time. Thankfully they seem to be few and far between. The rule in our house is that when those rare toddler moments do happen, they end with a make up hug and kiss from Ilya to both mommy & daddy. We want him to know that no matter what he does, how he acts, etc., we will always be there to tell him we love him and to hold him close. I think this is working because we used to have to tell Ilya to give us a hug and kiss once his evil twin went back into hiding. Now he seeks us out to "apologize" and to give/receive hugs and kisses. Then he signs "Love You" to us and all is forgotten.

That's actually not the topic of tonight's post. I just wanted to put it out there that 99% of the time Ilya is a delightful little boy...both in his behavior/personality and his outlook on life.

Which brings me to the title of this entry: Ilya x 1000. If you have met my son in real life, you know that prior to last week's surgery he seemed to be a very happy, loving, well adjusted kiddo who found joy in nearly everything he encountered. If you only know Cubby through this blog, you may have reached the same conclusion through my posts and pictures. At least I hope that is the picture I painted of my son! Words sometimes don't seem to do him justice.

Anyhoooooo, take all of that and multiply it by 1000, and you get what we're referring to as our "Post-Op Ilya." I don't know if that makes sense to anyone besides me, Norm, Bay & Bandit but let me just say WOW!!!!! What a difference, not that Norm & I thought a difference was necessary. I guess he was in more discomfort than we knew or he let on to because he is definitely finding absolute joy and pleasure in EVERYTHING! Like I said earlier, we thought he found joy in everything before, but there is a whole new level of joy now that we had no idea even existed.

That 24/7 permagrin now stretches wider than ever and we're thinking of petitioning for more hours in the day because his smile definitely lasts more than 24 hrs.

He's talking up a storm, he's exploring more than ever.

He's laughing, babbling, singing, dancing, running, stomping, coloring, and spinning his way through life.

He is the epitomy of happy, confident, loving, fun, funny, secure, content. Actually, let me rephrase that. Our little family unit is the epitomy of happy, confident, loving, fun, funny, secure and content. We are: Ilya x 1000!! And we are so very, very blessed.