Happy Birthday - on September 24 - to my precious baby, my youngest son, Jonathan.  Some of my favorite Jonathan stories:

10) Soccer was Jonathan's sport. One night, playing for Rome High, his junior year, Jonathan was kicked in his head. When the resulting gash bled, Jonathan was forced to leave the game.

His coach almost never took Jonathan out of the game.

[caption id="attachment_982" align="alignleft" width="278"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jonkicking.jpg"><img class="wp-image-982 " title="Jonkicking" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jonkicking-745x1024.jpg" alt="" width="278" height="383" /></a> Jonathan playing sweeper for Rome High[/caption]

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Dr. Rogers, whose sons also played for Rome High, offered to take Jonathan into the weight room to stitch up the gash.  Jonathan, his Dad and Dr. Rogers disappeared into the school, while Jonathan's mother - me - paced back and forth near the doorway.  I didn't know exactly what they were doing, only that Jonathan was getting stitched up. I certainly didn't know that Gregg held a flashlight to provide Dr. Rogers with enough light to do the stitches.

The doctor gave Jonathan a choice: a local anesthesia for pain, and Jonathan would not be able to return to the game.  Or no anesthesia and he could continue to play.  Jonathan opted to go back in the game.

Six stitches later, Jonathan came running out of the school. He waved as he ran past his mother, and up to the sidelines, where his coach put him immediately back in the game.

Gregg and I returned to our seats in the stands, just in time to sit down, tell our fellow spectators that he's gotten 6 stitches, then we looked up to see Jonathan head the ball down the field.

You should have heard the collective gasp from the Rome High parents. I can confidently tell you that my youngest son is one tough young man.

He certainly earned some serious macho points at Rome High that night.

9) Jonathan's cousin Lillian is only two months older than he is, and she lived in the same town, growing up. I babysat for Lillian while her mother worked. People saw Jonathan and Lillian together and though they were twins.

<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/JonLil-3-yr.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-1273 alignright" title="JonLil 3 yr" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/JonLil-3-yr.jpg" alt="" width="359" height="212" /></a>

Lillian's role in life seemed to be to tell Jonathan what to do. Jonathan's job seemed to be to drive Lillian crazy by NOT doing what she wanted him to do.

One day, when they were not quite two years old, I had Lillian and Jonathan in the car. Lillian could talk in long, clear sentences. Jonathan still babbled. On this ocassion,  he said someth, "La-la-ta-ta-do-do. . ."

"Aunt Debi," Lillian informed me, "Jonathan just said 'Do-do'."

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8) 20 Goals in One Season played with brothers 9 7 and 3 years older

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7) Mudding in the Front Yard

[caption id="attachment_794" align="aligncenter" width="497"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacmud2.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-794" title="JonIsaacmud2" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/JonIsaacmud2.jpg" alt="" width="497" height="522" /></a> Isaac standing, watching Jonathan slide in the mud in front of our house. They were six years old.[/caption]

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