Garrett wet

The first time Garrett felt rain hit his bare head was in Almaty. He got so excited he literally pee’d his pants. Getting soaked was total sensory overload. You see, children in Kazakh orphanages are forced to wear hats—even in the dead of summer. My guess is if it was raining, the kids stayed in.

So now, getting wet is a big highlight in little kazman’s life. He points out to anyone within ear’s shot that mama car wet, papa car wet, park wet, bus wet, Garrett wet, Cody wet, kitties no wet (they’re indoor cats), bicycle wet and on and on and on. Then he moves on to umbrella: Garrett umbrella, papa umbrella, Cody no umbrella, etc. So image his joy upon discovering the backyard water sprinkler. Oh my, it’s as though he died and gone to heaven. But it wasn’t easy in the beginning: he had a hard time grasping the concept of swim trunks. He refused to put them on, much less take off his shirt. After much coaxing, we finally got the trunks on, but the shirt was non-negotiable. This would later pose a problem for daycare as Wednesdays are designated water days—kids are allowed to run freely under the sprinkler. During the first sprinkler session, Garrett refused to change into his swim trunks, so he missed out on the fun. By afternoon, he was a changed man—and here’s the proof.

I love that daycare emails us photos during the day or else I’d miss out on all these special milestones.