A Paddle and a Picture

Daddy got another award/honor on Friday night! The Marine Corps has a tradition of giving Marines a paddle when they leave a unit they have been with for a while or made an impact on during their time. Josh was with his former unit for 1 year, and recently switched to a different unit. The guys from his former unit wanted to get together on Friday for pizza (not something Josh ever refuses), but, he was surprised to find that they had organized a paddle for him. The paddle has a plaque on it as well as Josh's rank chevrons and his ribbons, as they would appear on his dress uniforms. What a nice surprise!

Megan did ask if the paddle was supposed to help him while on board the boat/ship (sorry Grandpa Trainor!), but Josh assures us that it has nothing to do with his next deployment.

Last week, during the vomit-ness, the UPS man delivered a very special package! It was the pictures Michelle Carr took of us while we were in Massachusetts in November. In addition to many 5x7s, we also ordered one big picture, which we need to get framed, but, it has been sitting on a dining room chair for a while and Will loves to say "Hi!" to himself. When we took it down to take a picture of it, Will went over and kissed himself. Such self-esteem!

Get In My Bellyyyy!

In case you were concerned about that pound that Will lost when he was sick, he's making up for it now.

What Will ate yesterday:

BREAKFAST:

2 Dad-sized handfuls of Kix

7 oz. milk

1 banana

1 yogurt

4 mini blueberry muffins

3 mini pancakes

SNACK

1 string cheese

about 15 Gerber cheddar cheese crunchies

9 oz. water

half of whatever Jackson was eating at Stroller Strides

LUNCH

1/2 grilled cheese sandwich

handful of peas and carrots

1/2 peach

2 hunks of watermelon

SNACK

5 oz. milk

handful of Gerber crunchies

DINNER

2 oz. cheddar cheese pasta with broccoli and carrots

7 oz. milk

handful of peas and carrots

1 container of pureed garden vegetables

1/2 grilled cheese

2 spinach raviolis

1 Eggo waffle

4 crackers before bed

So...he's feeling MUCH better. He now has 14 teeth. His belly sticks out when he wears button up shirts. AND...he drinks milk!

Get Your Will Fix Here

Will had his official last class of Move and Groove today. Although he gets to make one up because he was sick last week, this was the last class with the same group of kids. He finally has his energy and appetite back and was really happy to be at music class today. Mom couldn't figure out what he's been doing when he makes a rhythm by slapping his lap and then clapping, until circle time at class and then it became obvious that in the one month of going to these classes, Will picked up on the songs and their motions. As a small gift for each kid, Miss Kristin gave everyone a new ball. A NEW BALL?!!! Will couldn't be more excited. He tested out it's throwability while Mom was making lunch this afternoon.

We didn't get any pictures of cousin Bridget's actual visit, but she did buy Will a taxi car while she was here. He likes to sit in the kitchen and "drive" it around. Thanks, Bridget!

Meet Buff the dog. Buff is 14 years old...in human years! He lives across the courtyard with our friend Laurie and her family. Buff needs to go for a walk every afternoon after lunch...and so does Will. They make perfect walking partners since they both tend to wander, rather than walk. Will loves to go get Buff after lunch and take him for his walk. Sometimes, though, Buff gets lazy (hey, do you know how old that is in dog years?!) and he sits down. Will tries his best to "encourage" Buff to get up...by trying to pick him up.

Bubble Time

We didn't do anything exciting this rainy weekend because Will is still getting his energy back after that virus kicked his butt all last week. The poor kid is also getting two new teeth, so to say he's been crabby is a bit of an understatement, since he walks around with an incessant whine. We broke out the bubble gun in an attempt to curb the crankies, and Will loved it. Tomorrow, we're expecting a visit from cousin Bridget so hopefully we'll take some good pictures!

Oh and to Grammie and Grandpa: Will absolutely LOVES that shirt. He points to it all the time, wanting to look at the helicopter, and all day while he wears it, he stops and checks to make sure that helicopter is still there.

Daddy's Actual Award

Whew. Deep breath here. After 6 days of V&D (you know...the symptoms of a virus)... Will is finally back to the mischievous little boy known as Mom's sidekick and Dad's pal, just in time for the weekend. After an intense trip to the lab yesterday per the doctor's orders (they took his blood and another liquid from his body), Will woke up this morning ready to play. Phew. What a virus.

Dad's been working hard and late all week, but, today, he came home just before bedtime and he had a special surprise! He got his award! Apparently, the first Sergent called, "Attention to Orders" during the training class today, and then ordered, "Sergeant Platenik front and center". An unsuspecting Dad was trapped behind a chair and did his best to properly make his way up front. The award was read, medal bestowed, handshakes exchanged and the day went on. Crabby Will wasn't too impressed by the award tonight...but it sure is impressive.

Here's what the award says:

Department of the Navy

This is to Certify that the Secretary of the Navy has awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal to Sergeant Joshua B. Platenik United States Marine Corps

FOR

Professional Achievement in the superior performance of duties while serving as Intelligence Analyst, Training and Experimentation Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California from December 2007 to December 2008. As an Intelligence Analyst, Sergeant Platenik continuously performed duties normally carried out by more experienced and senior personnel. He personally developed and coordinated the intelligence scenario used to train Marines of 1st Maintenance Battalion as they prepared for deployment to Iraq. His intelligence scenario products assisted in training approximately 5,000 deploying Marines of 13th and 15th Marine Expeditionary Units. His sense of mission accomplishment and aggressive actions greatly enhanced the ability of deploying Marines to plan and execute a variety of missions by developing realistic training scenarios in support of Special Operations Training Group and Tactical Exercise Control Group. Sergeant Platenik's initiative, perseverance, and total dedication to duty reflected great credit upon him and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

On the Mend

We would like to think (and hope) that the veil of vomit has lifted. After spending the 3 day weekend on the couch surrounded by well placed towels and sippy cups, Will awoke this morning asking for bananas. A good sign? It seems that way. Despite extreme tiredness - he slept through the inauguration on the couch even though Mommy tried to tell him it was history in the making----Will had some energy today. After breakfast, he began bringing items of clothing out of his room, indicating that he would, in fact, like to become a "real boy" again and stop his 3 day streak of PJs.

Following his inauguration nap, Will demanded that the fridge be opened, and, when Mommy gave in to his desire, he used his chubby little hands to snag a thing of yogurt from the shelf, carefully place it on the floor, forcibly shut the fridge, methodically open "his" drawer, selectively choose a bowl, and then hungrily try to pour the [sealed] yogurt into the bowl. Hmm...can you guess what he wanted?

Oh, and Snuggles? Well, apparently he was all done laying on the couch too. Will was playing in his room, making "truck" noises and Mommy peeked around the corner to find that Snuggles was out for a morning drive. At such a young age! Alone! Good thing Will makes a pretty effective siren noise when he drives anything...get out of the way!

Oh...and can everyone see the new "header" at the top of the page? Sometimes it makes us click refresh to see it...just checking! What do you think? We told you we spent A LOT of time on the couch this weekend!

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, in a land full of sunshine in January, there lived a family of three. A mom, a dad, and a little boy. The dad had been away all week protecting the land and the mom and boy missed him terribly. They were so excited when the dad came home on in his black horse car, that they planned an adventure for Saturday morning. When dawn broke on Saturday, all was quiet in their small dwelling. Too quiet. The boy did not wake up until 7:45am. The mom and dad could hardly believe their luck...but they should have known.

The family ate breakfast and packed up the boy and headed out to a grand indoor playscape where they planned to play their little hearts out. As they pulled into the parking lot, the mom and dad heard a strange noise from the backseat. Turning around, they found their boy, covered in his breakfast. Not the yummy kind of breakfast, either.

The rest of the reunion weekend was spent caring for their boy and alternately washing his victims (towels, sheets, bears, pillow cases). Oh, and taking baths and showers. And sleeping in the shower.

Move and Groove

NEWS ALERT: Someone has stolen our baby boy and replaced him with this real kid. Will has opinions about everything. He wants to pick out his own snacks, clothes, drink cups, etc. He tries to dress himself and, luckily enough, he cleans up his own toys. We are at the point now where we can ask him for a specific book by title and he'll come back from his room with it.

Anyway...now that he's a "big boy", we've been skipping Stroller Strides once a week and going to a class called Move and Groove through the San Marcos rec. department. Basically, it's a playgroup with a structured circle time and songs with motions. Will loves it. He does really well following the directions and sharing with the other kids. His favorite part is parachute time at the end of class. Thanks to Gram and Gramps for the Christmas gift of music class!

Daddy's New Award

Daddy was awarded a new medal for his work with his former unit. While the medal is already in his official records, the ceremony has yet to take place. Anyone who knows anything about the Marine Corps knows that one should never count on the Marine Corps to be timely or efficient in any kind of ceremony or well, basically anything, except protecting the country (a small matter they call a priority). Anyway, we'll be waiting to hear more about Daddy's new medal and the impending ceremony when Daddy gets back from sleeping in a tent at Camp Pendleton all week.

Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal:

"The Achievement Medal is a military medal of the United States military. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the Meritorious Service Medal."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile....Will seems to think that A) if he repeatedly climbs to the top of the twisty slide and yells, "DAAADDD!" that Dad will appear at the bottom to catch him or B) Dad will suddenly come down the sidewalk as Will sits in his highchair which overlooks said sidewalk and shouts, "DAAADADDD!" or C) if he gets the football and carries it around the house calling "Dad?" and then throws the football, only to watch it bounce as only a football can...with no Dad on the receiving end to catch it, Dad will appear.

Hmm...Where is that guy?

Guess I should help clean up around here which takes A LOT of concentration, you know, the tongue hanging out kind...

Just Another Day at the Beach

After Maghan called this morning and told us another snow storm was heading into Massachusetts, we checked our forecast. Hmm...no snow...what's that weather lady? Oh? 75 degrees at the beach today. We decided to check her accuracy, beacause, you know, they can be wrong sometimes.

Well, what do you know? She was right! It was a beautiful morning for some beach play time. We played in the sand, tried out the playground, and walked to the end of the pier for a milkshake. Walking to the end of the pier with a 17 month old takes just about 8 years, if you are wondering.

Especially when THIS guy and his family had also decided the pier was a good place to spend the morning. And these guys don't move for ANYONE.

Playin' Hoop

Will was beyond excited when he got up from his nap on Friday to find the UPS man had delivered a new basketball hoop from Uncle J! After very impatiently waiting for Mom to assemble the hoop and a snack distraction, the hoop was up and ready to go. Luckily, Will has a whole basket of balls of various sizes and textures and each ball was sent through the hoop. No shot is complete, however, without clapping from the "audience" and heaven forbid you forget to clap or don't notice the shot...Will comes over and "helps" you clap. Thanks to Uncle J for the cool hoop.

"Hi!"

Will has recently doubled his vocabulary...bringing the total to...2 words. Well, he babbles a lot and imitates sounds...most recently "Da dooo" which we think means "Thank-you". But...the new audible sound is very VERY clearly, "HI!" At first, he was only willing to say "hi" to other kids at the park and the store, but now he has decided adults can also be greeted with a "hi". The little booger cute, adorable boy STILL won't say "Mom". Some sense of humor he has...when you ask him to say Mom he smiles and says, "Dad!" ha. ha. very. funny.

Will's Chair

Boy, are we glad Santa brought Will his own chair for Christmas! Now that we "de-Christmased" the living room, Will's chair sits in its own little corner of the living room. He can be found reading in his chair ALL THE TIME. The other day, when Jackson came over, the boys shared the chair. It was awfully cute to see them climb up there together and pat each other on the arm.

Little Freckle Foot

Dad says that if Will were to have an Indian name, it would be Freckle Foot. Sometime around when he was 7 months old, Will developed a "birth mark" on the bottom of his right foot. Until recently, he had no idea it was there, but now, it drives him nuts as he tries to pick it off all the time. It's actually very amusing to watch as he examines his own foot and tries tirelessly to peel the tiny brown dot off the bottom of his foot. He thinks it's funny, too.

A Visit from an Old Friend

Well, ok, Kent isn't "old", but, he's Mom's friend from high school which seems like a million years ago. Kent lives in Redondo Beach and finally made the drive down to meet Will and hang out. We haven't taken many good pictures of Will lately because the kid moves too darn fast now! Will was pretty happy to have another person to play catch and read with on Sunday and it was great to catch up with Kent!