Matthew v 2 Year Old

I often wonder how much of Matthew's behavior is uniquely Matthew and how much is just him being 2 years old. 

Going Out To Eat
We typically limit our eating out to 2 times a week, usually on the weekends.  Lately Matthew has been a nightmare to take to a restaurant.  He squirms in the seat (no matter the type- high chair, booster seat, big chair, booth) for the first 5 minutes, he eats for about 3-5 minutes, and then he loses his mind wanting to get down and roam around for the remainder of our time out. Since this has started a few months ago, we have mostly limited eating out to restaurants that are (a) loud and (b) open to kids roaming around.  We aren't happy with either these restrictions or his behavior, but it is what it is right now.  Ugh. Matthew's restaurant behavior-- Uniquely Matthew v 2 year old?  Not sure.

Television
Matthew still doesn't watch tv.  He will sit down with Alyssa and Jackson for about a minute and a half when they are watching a show, but that is it.  Doesn't matter the show-- animated or not, educational or not, kid focused or not.  This normally isn't an issue, as he is pretty independent and will often entertain himself while the kids watch something, but it does make me a bit sad.  First, he won't watch shows that would be beneficial for him, like Signing Times.  Second, Matthew doesn't care at all about Sesame Street.  Our days of Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar, Bert and Ernie are completely over unless he suddenly takes an interest.  They have been a big part of our house for a very long time, and I had imagined that they would be here a bit longer with Matthew, but sadly that just doesn't seem to be the case.  Matthew's tv viewing-- Uniquely Matthew v 2 year old?  Seemingly uniquely Matthew. 

Unless Matthew comes around soon, I guess I'll sadly have to take down the custom made Sesame Street shower curtain and embrodiered towels from the kids' bathroom.

Ailments
Matthew was healthy for 8 weeks in a row at the end of the summer/beginning of the fall. He had croup in August, and then was healthy until a week ago when he ran a mystery fever for a day. That is the longest stretch of health Matthew has had in his lifetime.  Usually, Matthew catches a cold or stomach bug or whatever is going around approximately every 3 weeks.  In comparison, 8 weeks seemed like a LONG time.  And now today, he woke up a bit croupy.  I think 8 weeks of health during the fall/winter would be a little too optimistic, but 1 week seems a bit too short.  Matthew's immune system-- Uniquely Matthew v 2 year old? Likely a combination of both. 

Eating
We have been fighting Matthew's weight since his 2 month baby well visit appointment.  Matthew struggled to take a bottle. He ate baby food until he was 2.  But now, he eats table food & drinks from a cup.  He doesn't have trouble chewing or swallowing. He eats all foods and all textures.  But he just doesn't eat enough--whether it be healthy foods (bananas, noodles, peas, etc) or less healthy foods (chicken nuggets, pizza, etc) or plainly unhealthy foods (fast food, cake, etc).  Doesn't matter if they are his favorite foods or foods he has never tried before.  3-5 minutes at the table, and he's done.  I can't make him eat more food, or even more fattening foods.  Ugh.  He is 2.5 years old (32 months), and weighs 24 pounds.  He is off the chart too thin.  But he reminds me frequently that you can lead a toddler to the food, but you can't make him eat.  Matthew's eating issues-- Uniquely Matthew v 2 year old? Eating habits may be similar to 2 year olds, weight issues seem to be uniquely Matthew.