Quirky Matthew

Matthew has a few little quirks that are kind of funny, sometimes frustrating, and certainly worth writing about. One is that he likes to free-fall backwards in the bath tub. He will be sitting, playing with bath toys when he suddenly decides that he wants to lay out backwards and he just goes for it. I've always caught him but sometimes it requires some interesting acrobatics. A few days ago the kids were bathing together, Sam was in the front of the tub and Matthew was in the back. I was washing Sam's hair, so he was leaning back into my left arm and I was pouring water over his hair with my right hand. Then Matthew decided he wanted to fall back too, so I quickly crossed my right arm over Sam and grabbed the little guy. The slippery little bugger. Awkwardly I held them both for a few moments before Sam managed to get himself upright. When Matthew gets into free fall mode, he just does it over and over. So I get him upright and immediately there he goes again. For now, my agility and back are managing ok, but I don't know how things will go once I get some extra pounds on in my midsection.

Another of Matthew's quirks is that although he is a hearty eater, he is kind of picky sometimes. Like if he doesn't like what's placed before him, he simply will not eat anything. Astounding given how much he eats other times. But he looks over the tray, maybe tries a bite or two, then just sits there, refusing foods that don't appeal to his palate. Matthew will also spit foods out if he doesn't like them. He doesn't just try something and make a yucky face if he doesn't like it, he spits it out. It just dribbles down his chin, so he's not sending the food sailing, but he has a definite means of rejection. Sam never did this. He could make icky faces, but generally swallow whatever he didn't agree with and not try it again. Sometimes I'll get Matthew something, like toast, which he will start eating. Then I'll put something else on his tray, like strawberries. If the second option is better than the first, he will spit out food No. 1 mid-chew (in this case toast) and start eating food No. 2. So Matthew has a definite hierarchy of food tastes as well. Maybe his sensitive palate will lead him to be a chef someday. He can practice on the family dinner.