Cheers to new beginnings! Jon Gosselin Instagrammed two pictures of his 14-year-old son Collin beaming from ear to ear on Monday, January 1.
In one festive photo, Jon — he rocked a sparkly purple party hat! — was joined by his girlfriend, Colleen Conrad, his daughter Hannah, 14, and Collin. The other shot showed Collin happily mugging for the camera with his dad and Conrad.
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” the Pennsylvania-based DJ captioned his post. “2019 Here we come!!!”
The comments came pouring in. “Collin looks so much healthier and happier!” wrote one person. Added another: “Happy people smile with their eyes, not just with their mouths. These smiles reflect true happiness!”
Collin has so much to smile about these days. In December, Jon was awarded sole custody of the teen after his ex-wife, Kate Gosselin, did not show up at court. The former couple, who split in 2009, are parents of sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Leah, Alexis, Joel and Aaden as well as 18-year-old twins Cara and Madelyn. Hannah has resided with Jon since February 2018, while the other children are with Kate.
Until recently, Collin was living in a facility for children with special needs. But according to Jon, he did not qualify to be there. “He is not on any spectrum or special needs,” the Jon and Kate Plus 8 alum revealed when replying to a fan’s question on Instagram earlier in December.
While Kate has not responded to her former spouse’s comment, she has previously defended her decision to send Collin away in 2016 when he was 12.
“It was not even really a choice, it was on the advice of his doctors and it had to happen,” she explained on a November 2016 episode of ABC’s Nightline. “He’s plodding along and we are too. This is the best thing I can do for him right now and that comforts me.”
A source close to Jon told Us Weekly in November that Collin and Kate had a rocky relationship. “Collin is very intelligent. He was always questioning Kate and talking back,” the insider said at the time. “Kate doesn’t like that.”
