The Tale of the Bird and the Ogre

My kids are very different in a lot of ways. One in particular is eating habits. It is a struggle we are faced with at every meal. You see, Kenny eats like a bird. He bites a goldfish cracker in half! At least once during every meal he suddenly starts wailing at the top of his lungs because he bit his fingers. Genius, I tell you. He also resists all use of forks or spoons. He prefers to eat caveman style. He has improved in this area thanks to his over-bearing parents reminding his before every bite to use a utensil. Below is a picture of Kenny eating 1 Doritio chip.

Fast forward 15 seconds (I know because I timed it.)It's The Same Chip!!!!!

Contrast that with our little one. He eats like an ogre. I am amazed at how much food he can pack away- especially considering how little he is. He takes such huge bites that I watch him in anticipation of needing to administer the Heimlich Maneuver. Cutting up his food does nothing to help the problem. He will shove several bites in his mouth at one time. He also hoards his last bite. After every meal you have to sweep his mouth clean. If not, he will keep the last bite of food- whatever it is- clamped in his mouth. Before I learned this I noticed one afternoon that his lips were clamped really tight. I pryed his mouth open to find a half chewed piece of hotdog! My eyes widened in amazement- Lunch had been 2 hours ago!!!
I don't know why they are both so weird about food. The only thing I did was eat with my feet on the table and refuse to put anything close to soggy bread in my mouth.