Quirky

"There is something about recognizing our quirks and differences that brings us joy." 
--- Holley Gerth


Jenson definitely had his quirks.  His quirks made him even more endearing to me.

The bags of Goldfish accompanied us everywhere we went.  Most of the time he didn't even eat them, they were just along for the ride.

When eating sweet potato baby food, the entire seal had to be removed.  Mostly off with a tiny little strip down the side (which most kids wouldn't notice) was not going to cut it.  He'd push away the food container, "I need you get tis off".  It was clear there was going to be no eating unless every last little part of that wrapper was gone.

And things had to be neat and orderly (can't imagine where he got that one).  When he was first learning to use the spoon himself and would spill a tiny drop of blueberry yogurt on his bib, he would immediately yank off the bib.  "Need new one.  Tis one dirty."  I would try to assure him, "Jenson, that's what bibs are for...to catch the spills so they don't get on your clothes," only to hear back, "Need new one.  Tis one dirty."

One afternoon while eating soup together, he stopped eating as he patiently waited for me to clean up the tiny drop of soup that spilled from his spoon onto the table.  The table had to be clean before he would continue eating.  I smiled and lovingly said to him "Jenson, you're quirky."

"I quirky!" he proudly said back.  He always embraced his uniqueness.  He was never embarrassed about his quirks --- quite the opposite.  Jenson's quirks served as a source of joy.