John Too

John is obviously getting the short end of the stick when it comes to coverage in these columns. For those who don't know, he's Eli's 11 month old brother. As is typical of the second born (I should know), he is being overlooked because he's so well behaved, intelligent, and incredibly good looking.

When I say well behaved I'm excluding the hours between 10PM and 7A, at which time he alternates between regular crying  and screaming like a straight up banshee.

But in the daylight hours he really is well behaved. He pretty much just crawls after Eli and shares his toys with Eli. For those who don't know, a second born "sharing" is the same as a first born stealing. Jerks.

John enjoys smiling, being held by his momma, saying"whoaaa", and ramming his head into the oven door (this may be why he smiles so much).

Like I said, John is intelligent so he likes books. He demonstrates this by pulling every book off every shelf that is within reach everywhere in the house. He's very patient and will wait all day until he can make a break to the bookshelf and litter the floor with books. Then he laughs like he's on the inside of a very obvious inside joke.

It’s funny how with Eli being independent enough to get into trouble, John doesn’t seem to get into mischief the way Eli did at his age. Or maybe John gets away with things because I’m so distracted keeping tabs on Eli. Actually, I’m pretty sure they coordinate their attacks. Eli will throw a fit and John immediately heads for the bookshelf.

My dad says he and John have a special bond because he was the first relative to hold John. I think John remembers this too, because he bursts into tears anytime my dad tries to hold him. At least he used to. However, now that John is comfortable with other people (like doctors) holding him, they seem to have reestablished their bond.

John is trying to talk and says, "hi" a lot. People are really impressed when they greet him and he says hi. They're a little less impressed when he says hi when they leave.

Overall, John is a laid back, happy kid. This balances well with Eli’s somewhat fussy nature and it also makes him get less attention. I suppose this is good training for the second born.  Although I can't help feeling it’s unfair. I can't imagine why…