Jon is our 3rd son....3 years younger than Mike and 12 months younger than Andrew. They were all born in February so it was always a little crazy having three young boys so close in age!
When Jon was little, he was very attached to me. When I would get the occasional night out, I would leave after I got Jon to sleep. Unfortunately, Jon was one of our terrible sleepers so he always woke up at some point. My dad always said that he would pray that Jon wouldn't wake up when he was babysitting because Jon would just cry for me for an hour while he walked him around trying to distract him and get him back to sleep.
Jon is the practical joker of the family. He claimed that role when he was about 15 months old. Mike and Andrew were playing with farm animals and they started yelling. I headed into the room to investigate just in time to see Jon toddling out of the room in his awkward baby run holding a cow in his hand and with a giant grin on his face and a wild gleam in his eye!
My first thought was, "Oh crap, we are in trouble with this one!"
Jon can tease like the best of them! (But he doesn't take being teased very well himself!) When Jon gets that gleam in his eye, we know he is up to no good. Plus, when he gets that idea in his head he starts smiling and can't stop.
Sometimes he doesn't know when to stop teasing. We were frequently concerned with his well being when he was younger because we were sure Mike would snap one day and start to pummel Jon. That was when Mike was twice as big as Jon! Luckily, Jon was faster than Mike. You could frequently see Jon racing around the house giggling like a maniac as one of his siblings chased after him yelling, "I'm gonna hurt you!!!", because of the merciless teasing Jon had just doled out!
Though his teasing has slowed down a little as he's...ahem...matured.....it still occurs frequently. Take our family vacation to Hershey. Jon used the free sample of chocolate he got at Chocolate World, that melted in his pocket, in an "interesting" way.(I apologize in advance for the "toilet humor" to moms that grew up without brothers and only have daughters...pun intended!)
Jon came running into my hotel room with the his signature laugh and gleam in his eye saying, "Mom, come look what I did. Dad's giving Luke a bath and hasn't even noticed!" Then, he went in the bathroom with a disgusted face and said, "Dad, what's that!" Jay thought it was poop and called to me. (Because in our house, scenes like this are totally possible!) Jon was totally proud of this practical joke. His comment..."I thought the finger smears on the tank were a nice touch!"
Jon makes up for his lousy sleeping as a child by taking daily naps. He can fall asleep anywhere!(Just like my dad.) His funniest sleep story (so far) was falling asleep on the woman's shoulder who was sitting next to him in an IMAX theater on a trip with my parents(He was 12). His siblings claim he has "controlled narcolepsy".
Jon has always been an outwardly loving child. He was always a snuggler. He would sit in my lap and twirl my hair. He gave great hugs!(still does) He was always very sweet...except when he was teasing.
Jon loves candy, (I think he's addicted to sour watermelons), watching Glenn Beck, following the Red Sox, Patiots and Celtics, and watching soccer matches on tv. He loves playing basketball, eating ice cream, and being involved as an alter server and in our church's youth group. Jon likes to travel and is currently trying to convince my parents that they would like to take him on a cruise. Jon loves his siblings(usually) and loves to rile up the little ones and to share the experiences that he enjoyed as a little boy with them.(He recently told me that I can only buy primary colored play-do for Luke so that he has the joy of mixing his own colors.)
Jon is probably the most outgoing of all of our children...he talks to everyone. We've often jokingly said he should be a politician....and, ironically, he has begun considering that profession recently after years of speaking about being an engineer.(He has always been great at math...one of his nicknames is mathman. Jon gets that skill from Jay's dad!)
Though at times he drives me absolutely crazy(like when he is making his siblings scream!), he has been one of our easiest kids to parent(at least so far).
There are a few other funny stories I could share, but those would embarrass him. And with a tease, you always need a little leverage...so I need at least a few things to hold over his head every once in a while!
Who would have thought that threatening to blog something could be so useful:) (Love you, Jon)
