Matthew and his passions.

I've decided to do a little blurb about each of the kids this coming week, so that you all can get to know them a little better. Since Matthew is the oldest, I thought I would start with him first. I must warn you though, if you know Dave, you know Matthew a great deal better than you thought. It is hard to tell what exactly has been passed down by genes, environment, upbringing and so on at this point. I anticipate that as Matthew learns who he is, the more we will get to know the real Matthew. As for now, this is the Matthew we know:

This year is Matthew's first year of Jr. High and he loves it so far, especially since he gets to start picking the electives that interest him most. As mentioned in a previous post, Matthew has decided to learn to play the oboe. During Elementary school he had so much fun in the Percussion club and learning the recorder for music class, that he thought he would keep moving in a melodic direction. Curiously, when presented with the opportunity to try out all the instruments to choose from, oboe and french horn were said to be the best candidates for him. (He had no idea that those were the very same instruments his parents played when they were younger, although I did play the clarinet for a short while before changing to the french horn.) It will be interesting to see how far he goes with the oboe. Either way, it's nice to see him eager to learn something new.

When it comes to spare time, Matthew would rather play video games over anything else. His most favorite games are the online ones, such as World of Warcraft, Talisman, Rune Scape and so on. (Matthew would gladly add more mature games to the list, such as Ghost Recon and so on, however his parents don't feel it's appropriate.) But since game time is limited in our household, except for the dad of course, Matthew has had to discover a few more things with which to occupy his time.

TV and movies have then become Matthew's next favorite way to pass the time, though they too have been restricted by his meddlesome parents. Fantasy and action are Matthew's preferred genres, with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies topping the list.

If Matthew can't be found doing either of those things listed earlier, he can most likely be found reading his favorite Fantasy titles . In addition to the titles listed above, Matthew has found the Lightening Thief series and Jack Sparrow books to be among his preferred reading material. Lately, Matthew has expanded his palate to Naruto, a popular series of Japanese Anime. (Boy does he burn through those fast!) In addition to all of the pictures, he gets a kick out of the reverse order of reading.

Favorite foods include: pears, kiwi, black olives, ham and black olive pizza (without sauce), and plain hot dogs and hamburgers. Matthew also loves most types of chips, candy, soda, and junk food, though he doesn't get to eat them as much as he'd like. For the most part, Matthew is a picky eater. (You can only guess what a shock it was when we discovered that he loves sauteed mushrooms. Who knew?) :)

Other hobbies include: antagonizing people (especially his younger brother), semantic games, debating, as well as harassing Nolan some more. He also loves playing with Pierce, the cute 1 year old baby boy I watch during weekdays. (He is actually quite good with him.) If only he were as good with his own brother!

So there you go, that's the Matt we know!