Squeaky’s Blog

It all started on Thursday when I went to pick WC up from pre K.  It was so nice out Giggles and I had the windows down in the car.  We were almost at WC’s school when Giggles started shouting ball, and pointing out the window.  He had thrown his bouncy ball out the window.  This was one of the few balls he knew was his and only his.  It was the cutest one I had seen in a long time.  It was white with the shiny colored confetti mixed in.  On our way back home we stopped a few times and I walked down the street looking for it and I think we drove like 5 miles an hour some of the way.  Well I gave up and we went home.  I went to get him out of his seat and he looked at me and said ball like I was supposed to have it and hand it over to him.  My heart broke for him over this silly little ball.  I thought to myself wow the things I will do to make my kids happy.  So I guess we will make a trip to the fun factory and hopefully get enough tickets to get him another one.  Then came Sunday morning and Giggles brought me one of his toys.  It was the blow up push toy that rolls back to the baby and helps them to learn to crawl.  Well he found it in his room and brought it to me and so I blew it up for him.  The whole time I was blowing it up he was smacking it and saying “ball”.  Finally, it was done and I gave him the toy and what do you know he screamed at me and shoved it back in my arms.  What?  Thinking he was unsure I rolled it on the ground and that made him scream even more.  Poor Giggles went and got it, brought it back, pointed inside the toy and said “ball”.   I finally figured it out he wanted the little balls inside the toy.  I tried to explain they wouldn’t come out but he didn’t want to hear it.  Frustrated I told him to take it to Papa and off he went whimpering “ball”.  DP apparently didn’t do anything for him because two minutes later he came back whining “ball”.  Once again, I tried to tell him they don’t come out.  Pissed off he grabbed the toy and ran into WC’s room.  A few minutes later he came back out with the toy and WC’s play chisel.  Then gave me the toy to hold as he tried to stab the seam and I couldn’t help but laugh.   Again, I tried to explain to him that that balls didn’t come out and it ended with him storming off into his room screaming and crying and shutting his door behind him.  He had to sit in his room crying for a good few minutes when I went to check on him.  The poor boy was sitting in the dark in front of his closet with another toy.  It was one where you drop the balls in and they come out on the side with extra places to drop from and come out of, and it played some music when the balls hit the bottom.  So here is Giggles crying in his room whimpering ball and holding his toy trying to shove some dog toy ball about the size of a tennis ball down the slot that a ping pong ball would fit in.  I felt bad and for him so we went to find the balls that went to the toy.  We could only find one but he was happy for a while.  Then just before dinner time he started all over again and I happened to be on the phone with my mom.  Who asked what his problem was and after I told her the story and both the toys actually came from her.  She felt so bad listening to him whimper ball that she said it was torturing him and to just pop the thing and give him the balls.  Okay I figured she bought and was the one saying pop it so what the hell.  I got a steak knife, sliced a big whole and gave Giggles the balls.  That child was so happy.  He ran into the other room with all three balls to show DP.  Then he ran to his room and sat down with his toy and dropped his balls in with the biggest smile on his face.  He sat and played with that toy and then when he came out into the living room he brought the toy and the balls.  He wasn’t about to let them out of his sight after all he went through to get them.  Even this morning when he got up he ran straight for the balls with a big smile on his face.

I had to take Giggles to the ER the other night.  We had a long day of running errands and when we got home I decided to clean out the car.  The kids were playing in the drive way and being good.  Then Giggles climbed in the car and over to the driver seat.  WC then decided that he was going to get in the driver seat with him.  That was about the point I got mad and told them both to get out of the car and WC went out the door and shut it behind him.  Well, its monkey see monkey do with Giggles.  So, Giggles pulled on the door handle and pushed a little and then started to fall so he let go and the door closed.  I got a few extra grey hairs at that point but the door was closed and figured he was just going to walk to the back and get out like he got in.  Oh no he was going to be a big boy like WC and go out the door.  This time though he knew he was going to have to push on it so he grabbed the handle and pushed it open and went head first out the door.  I freaked watching it all happen and not being able to grab his feet and ran around to the car to get him.  He was screaming, his head was all bruised already and he had road rash just above his eye.  I grabbed the keys because I hadn’t even unlocked the door yet.  I tried to call DP at work but Giggles was screaming so I just asked to send DP home and hung up.  I then called DP’s cell and told WC to tell Papa that Giggles was hurt and to come home while I grabbed an ice pack and headed to the EMT neighbors house.  Trying to calm down Giggles had finally stopped crying and I called DP back to tell him we were headed to the ER.  Which one, I had no idea since I didn’t even know where the damn hospital was it was just going to be the closest one to the house that came up in the GPS.  DP met us at the ER and I was telling them again for the umpteenth time that NO the car was not moving when he fell out of it.  The keys weren’t even in the ignition.  Then we got the biggest shock of Bull Shit ever.  Tri Care wasn’t going to cover the visit to the ER that we were going to have to make a claim through our car insurance company.  If they then denied the claim tri care at that point would pick up the bill.  What are you kidding me?  If we had been stationed with a military base I would have gone to the base ER and would never had an issue with the insurance.   But no we are remote (Army term for no base at the duty station) so we don‘t have the luxury of going to a military base.  I am sick of military families complaining about the base hospital and yes I was one of them.  But let me tell you know that I don’t have one now and I miss it and see how great it really is to have.  We had great doctors and I have great doctors now but they are an hour from the house.  I choose to go to them because of how much I like them.  I have to pay for my prescriptions now and over the counter meds that I used to just get from the base pharmacy I have to buy in a local store.  It’s a lot of little things that we take for granted and my eyes have been opened to a whole new world.  My kids are always playing and doing crazy things and people keep telling me that they are going to end up in the ER.  Well you know they just might but we have tri care so we are covered I tell them.  It’s true I think I let them be a little rougher and tougher than they should be because I know that if anything happens they are covered.  I guess I might start rethinking that after this cause god only knows the next time it’s going to be oh no tri care won’t cover this because you were in the house you are going to have to call your home owners insurance policy.  Ha probably not but why chance it right?     

Giggles first birthday is coming up and we have been trying to figure out what we are going to do for it.  WC has finally accepted that it’s okay for Giggles to have a party after much deliberation and has even planned it.  WC has decided that Giggles should have an Elmo cake and we should have a party at a park with hot dogs and balloons.  I think this might be a small one with just us since we still don’t know anyone but DP’s co workers.  We will see I am going to look around for a cake today and hopefully will find one.  I mean Elmo shouldn’t be hard to order right, he has been around forever.  We will see how it works out when it come times for presents though.  I think I may get WC something small so that he won’t feel left out.  I have faith that he will be okay though since we have been talking about it for a while now.  I think we will be continuing our talks over the next week to prepare him. 

As you all know we just moved and with that, we have to unpack and put everything back together.  Well the movers do all of that for us.  So, I let them.  This is where I made my mistake.  They took our furniture the beds and a few other items apart and put screws in a box labeled hardware.  I thought that the hardware was labeled with what it belonged too.  NO!  They just threw it taped together in a ball into a box and then one tube that was from the garage.  Here is the problem.  They took Giggles crib apart and handed me a taped ball of screws and said this is to the bed.  I asked which bed and they clarified that it was the crib.  So, thinking I would need that right away I kept it with me.  When the movers had finished unloading everything all I asked for them to do was put the beds together and my TV because it is too heavy for me and D.P. to lift.  I thought that when I handed them the screws to the crib and everything that they would let me know if there were any problems.  NO!  I forgot to tell them that the crib mattress had to be on the lowest setting and they put it in the middle.  Well, I wasn’t taking a chance and Giggles has been sleeping in his Pac N Play or with me.  I even moved the crib and thought that it seemed wobbly but that it didn’t matter since he wasn’t going in it and D.P. would fix it.  Yesterday D.P. finally moved the crib back down to the correct slot meaning all he had to do was unscrew the inside slot that held the mattress.  So, today I thought I would put the crib bedding on and Giggles can go back in his bed.  Hell NO!  Those JOKERS didn’t bother to tell me that they were missing a screw and the back frame wasn’t connected on one side of the crib.  All they did was slide a screw in but it didn’t have the adjoining screw to clamp it in place.  So it’s like a pin that is just slid in but not doing anything.  If you push on that side the whole frame comes off the rest of the crib.  This is how a lot of babies have been trapped and strangled in their cribs.  So, you can see my frustration.  Never again!  The next move we have I will make it very clear that nothing is to be taken apart without me present and that I will get the hardware for every item!  It will travel with me and when things are put back together I will be there to watch and check if they have to do it one item at a time!  I have just learnt a hard lesson to learn and the “what ifs” going through my head are too scary.  I will not be making this mistake again and I hope that this keeps it from happening to anyone else.