My little boy, sniff...

Last weekend, we took Johnathon to have his first haircut.  I had been resisting Craig every step of the way for months because I did not want to cut his hair.  Even after it was way past time to do it.  The kid had a mullet.  I don't know--haircutting just seemed like a very little boy thing to do and my baby is not a little boy, ergo etc etc, he does not need a haircut.

Mom, really.  I'll be ok.

So, I bit the bullet and took him to get a haircut.  The Woe.  And then!  The Cuteness.  I have to commend the haircutter--Cookie Cutters (woohoo!).  They plopped him right down into a chair that shaped as a car.  He was in heaven.  He didn't realize what was going on.  Of course, Craig and I took a zillion pictures.  Well, and there were a few tears, but not many, I promise.  And viola....

And, then, we went to Panera to celebrate....

Thanksgiving was this past week and I am thankful that Johnathon has a (mostly) strong stomach because his eating habit continue to baffle me.  Behold, his favorite foods:

Spaghetti, acceptable.

Green crayon, not so much acceptable.

Craig continues to do well in his back surgery recovery.  One of the goals that the hospital had set for him was to be able to walk three miles by the end of his six weeks' recovery.

.

Nailed it.  The Holiday in Lights 5K.

Honestly, I am so proud of Craig.  I think we had both forgotten what "normal" was.  For example, we had six people over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Craig was on his feet all day cooking (because he, honestly, loves cooking).  Friday, we took Johnathon to a holiday train exhibit.  Saturday and Sunday, we hung Christmas lights outside.  Now, to you, that sounds like a good weekend.  Before the surgery, that weekend would have been unimaginable.  ONE of those things we could have done as a family, not all of them.  Certainly not if we hosted Thanksgiving.  He would have been flat on his back, lying on ice for the rest of the weekend.  I was looking at past pictures of Johnathon recently and in so many of them, Craig is in the background, lying down.  I am so, so thankful for the surgery and what it continues to mean to Craig and our family.

I have a good reason!!!

For not posting at all during the month of October!!!!

At the very end of the last post, I mentioned that Craig was planning on getting back surgery at some point in the near future.  Little did I know that the surgery would actually take place three days later.  On Friday, September 30, Craig underwent a laminectomy on his L7 vertebra.  Our decision was somewhat made for us when we went to a second opinion from a very respected surgeon about the surgery.  He took a look at Craig's most recent MRI and said, "I'll clear my schedule for Friday."  It was Wednesday afternoon.  Apparently, Craig's disk was taking up about 95% of the space in his spine and numbness was starting to spread to both legs (up to that point, only one leg (!!) was numb.  (Sidenote:  seriously?  Who goes around thinking that not being able to feel your toes is normal?  Craig, that's who.)

So began a whirlwind of getting our ducks in a row because Craig's recovery would be at least six weeks.  My parents, who had just left the week before, came back on Thursday and watched Johnathon during the surgery and stayed for two weeks  Maggie, Craig's mother, flew in from Wales two weeks after the surgery to stay for the rest of his recovery (four weeks).

It's been a very busy time for us, but Craig is doing GREAT.  He is able to walk almost three miles, which is something I've actually never seen him be able to do.  He's fairly pain free and really excited about the future.  He gets excited about being able to walk around the grocery store, which, to be honest, I find so sad that he was in such pain for such a long time and just thought that was his lot in life.

The little munchkin is also doing great!!!!!!  Here we are on Halloween...he was not enthusiastic about his costume.

And some more fall fun...