Nicknames

It's amazing how many nicknames you come up with for your kid. Every new adventure or new skill merits a new nickname. Here are some of Josie's nicknames:

Monkey - This kid climbs on everything....stairs, toys, ladders, chairs, tables, me, the dog....you name it, she will try to conquer it.

Jose Pose - Mom-mom came up with this one I believe. We'll have to ask her for the basis, but I think it was created because it rhymes.

Jo-seppie - A nickname from Nanny. It's the name that Josie likes to be called when she's playing hide and seek.

Monster - This is the name we use when she is running around like crazy, arms in the air, mouth wide open ready to bite. I will grab her and whisper in her ear "you're a monster" and she whispers back "mons"....too cute.

I am sure there will more to come and we continue through this adventure with Josie.

Baltimore City's Finest

Well, yesterday was a whirlwind of a day that I don't ever want to re-live. On my way home from a doctor's appointment, I called my grandma to check on Josie. She was sleeping, but I could hear this barking cough in the background. I decided to call the doctor because the cough sounded terrible. They wanted to see her at 4:20, so I cancelled my afternoon appointment and head to grandma's to pick her up. As I was walking to the car with her, she was playing with the car remote. She does this all of the time, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I buckled her in, tossed the keys to the front seat like I always do and shut the back door. The door didn't shut all of the way so I tried to open it to shut it again......my heart stopped......the doors were locked. Josie had hit the lock button while I had the back door open and locked all of the doors. I turned to grandma who was still standing on the porch and said "I just locked the baby in the car." She thought I was joking, but when I told her to call 911, she knew I was serious. Josie was fine at this point. She though it was pretty funny so I kept playing with her through the glass.


The police came within a few minutes, so I thought, great, they will get her out and we'll be on our way. They walked up to the car, looked in at her and said "There is nothing that we can do. You need to wait for our emergency response unit." WHAT? Did I hear that correctly? My 13 month old is in the car and you can't do anything? They didn't have the bendable bar to pop the lock. Only the emergency response unit had that. Ok, fine. I asked how long it would take the unit to arrive. Their response - "Um, we are not sure....could be 20 minutes or so." Seriously?


Josie was starting to get upset at this point. I was trying to remain calm for her sake. I asked the cop that was there at the time to break the window. He said he couldn't, but that I could, so he handed me his club. I swung as hard as I could and the club bounced off of the window. I am not sure why I or the cop thought that I could break the window with my 110 pound body. A neighbor came by and offered to use a metal hanger to pop the lock. God bless him....he tried and tried and could not succeed. I should mention that "Dumb" and "Dumber" (the initial 2 cops to respond) stood on the sidewalk the entire time, hands on their hips.

Josie is hysterical at this point...reaching for me and screaming. I am trying to calm her....I know that it's getting hot in the car.

FINALLY, the emergency response unit comes. No lights, no sense of urgency.....he takes his time getting out the car, retrieves the bendable bar from the back and strolls over to my car. A neighbor pries the glass open while "Officer Cocky" attempts to flip the lock. I can't remember which way you are supposed to push the lock to open it, and he gets an attitude because I am not in a clear state of mind. After a few seconds, he gets it unlocked.

I almost rip the car seat straps off of Josie. She is covered in sweat, snot and tears, but she's ok. At this point I lost my mind. There is no way to sugar coat the verbal abuse I laid onto the officers. I berated them for their lack of urgency and the fact that it took the emergency response unit over 20 minutes to get there (after he had to ask for directions). Apparently, not everyone can be trusted to carry these bendable bars in their cars. This is a privilege reserved for the emergency response units. Can you sense my sarcasm? I dropped quite a few F-bombs before my grandma reminded that me that we needed to cool the baby. For a moment I was sure that I was going to jail.

So, maybe they will offer a paramedic to check the baby for dehydration? Nope. Now I know that she wasn't in the car for hours and it wasn't extremely hot, but it would have been nice to have her looked at. Everyone leaves, after "Officer Cocky" tells me that "if it's a dire emergency next time, break the window ma'am". Thanks Captain Obvious.....and according to everyone else in the world, locking your baby in the car in the summertime is a dire emergency. Unbelievable.

Moral of the story is three-fold:
1. Keep my car keys in my hand at all times.
2. Never rely on the Baltimore City Police Department to "serve and protect".
3. Keep the number for Pop-A-Lock handy. They are guaranteed to be there in 10 minutes if there is a child in the car.