Yet another Labor Day

Last Labor Day, Bob was out on the deck, painting a toy chest red for who we thought would be our son, a blue eyed, blonde haired boy named Denis. He was the first child Bob felt an immediate connection to. It's so curious to me how someone can look at a photo and it's love at first sight. As everyone knows that referral fell through, Denis was adopted by a local family in Uralsk. We can only hope that he's with a family that truly loves him right now.

When I first brought home photos of Garrett, Bob didn't have much to say. (To be fair, Garrett is far cuter in person than in photos.) All he could say was, "He looks like he could be a chubby kid if he doesn't watch what he eats." Ugh. Not the reaction I was expecting. After some coaxing on my part, he agreed to accept the referral. When I met first Garrett I felt love for this child almost immediately. For Bob, it's taking a lot longer. Even though he thinks he's a great kid and would never treat him any different than his two biological children, he's still hasn't caught up with me emotionally. It'll be interesting to see where he is in another year.

Yesterday Garrett and I attended the Russian Meetup picnic. There were a lot of boys there his own age, so I encouraged him to join them. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of the group. Clearly, Garrett didn't understand what was going on. He'd laugh inappropriately and was unable to sit still and play along. The boy in charge (with the laser sword) put him in a time out. Another boy ran after him and hurled a full bottle of water, which hit him squarely in the back. (At that point, I stepped in and told the boy to apologize to Garrett.) When I recounted the story to Bob, I found out I had broken a cardinal rule. I should have first gone up to the boys and asked if Garrett could play with them. Lesson learned.
Here's the kid with the water bottle just before the big "hurl."
Happy Labor Day—can't believe summer is almost over. But soon it'll be pumpkins and goblins—and Garrett's first chance to dress up and go door to door. Ahhh, to be six again.