Every fandom has a game it cannot resist, and the Johnston fandom is playing its oldest one: hold up a baby photo, squint, and declare a winner. The baby is Coleman Brice Bolden Jr., born September 8, 2026, to Liz Johnston and Brice Bolden. Since Liz shared his first photos on September 11, fans have split in two: Team Dad says Coleman is Brice all over again; Team Mom says look closer — that is Liz’s baby.
The family has not settled this, and newborns are famously hard to read. Liz’s announcement kept it simple. “Coleman Brice Bolden Jr. 09/08/2026,” she wrote on Instagram, according to Parade. “Our family is complete, with this happy handsome bundle of joy.” TLC agreed: “Officially a family of four!” That is the official record so far. Everything else is fans having fun — which is exactly what makes this debate so good.
The Photos That Started It
Parade described the first carousel in detail: Coleman in a green bodysuit in a hospital bassinet, a personalized blanket and monogram showing his full name, plus shots of Liz and Brice each holding their son, and the new family of four together. Each photo seems to prove a different point depending on who is looking. Hold it next to Brice and the resemblance jumps out, Team Dad insists. Hold it next to Liz and the answer flips completely, Team Mom replies. Same baby, two verdicts — and an endless argument.
The timing adds to the emotion. Season 18, premiering Tuesday, November 17 on TLC, follows Liz’s second pregnancy on screen — including whether the baby would be of average height like big sister Leighton or a little person. The show runs behind real life, so fans already know the ending: Coleman is here, safe, and home. Knowing the happy outcome makes every new photo of Coleman land a little harder.
Team Dad: The Case for Brice
Team Dad’s argument is built on more than a smile. Brice is the steady presence in this storyline — the husband who married Liz on November 8, 2025, the father already there for Leighton, born in November 2023, and the partner who voices his own fear on camera in the Season 18 trailer. According to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Brice admitted he is “not sure what to do” if something goes wrong in the delivery room, after doctors told the couple to be prepared for a scenario where Liz stops breathing. For Team Dad, Brice is not a bystander in this story — and his son even carries his name.
Team Mom: The Case for Liz
Team Mom hears all of that and is not buying it. Liz carried this baby through a pregnancy the Season 18 trailer presents as genuinely frightening: as a little person, Liz must deliver by C-section under general anesthesia because her skeleton is too small for a vaginal birth, according to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. She described herself as “a wreck” before the scheduled C-section, TV Season & Spoilers reported. For Team Mom, this is not about cheekbones. It is about whose body, risk, and courage made this baby possible: Liz, full stop.
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Let us separate the fun from the facts. We know Coleman was born September 8, 2026, that his parents are Liz and Brice, that Leighton is his big sister, and that Season 18 follows the pregnancy that led to him. We know Liz has achondroplasia, which means each pregnancy carries a 50 percent chance of a baby with dwarfism, according to Parade — and that, as of Parade’s September report, Liz and Brice had not revealed whether Coleman was born with dwarfism. No official source says who Coleman “really” looks like — that is not a fact anyone can certify about a newborn.
Nobody has to be wrong here. Babies change by the week, and the Coleman of September will not be the Coleman of next spring. What lasts is why the debate exists: a family viewers watched grow up, now welcoming a second grandchild for Trent and Amber.
So it is your turn, and there is only one rule: be honest about what you actually see. Team Dad or Team Mom — who does baby Coleman really look like?
Sources
- Parade, “‘7 Little Johnstons’ Star Liz Welcomes Baby No. 2 — See the First Photos” — https://parade.com/news/7-little-johnstons-liz-welcomes-baby-no-2-first-photos
- The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, “Get the Details on ‘7 Little Johnstons’ Season 18 & Watch the Trailer” — https://www.theashleysrealityroundup.com/2026/10/31/a-new-baby-menopause-more-get-the-details-on-7-little-johnstons-season-18-watch-the-trailer/
- TV Season & Spoilers, “7 Little Johnstons: Liz Opens Up About Challenges Of Delivering An LP Baby — ‘I’m A Wreck!'” — https://www.tvseasonspoilers.com/news/7-little-johnstons-liz-opens-up-about-challenges-of-delivering-an-lp-baby-im-a-wreck/
