Charles and Alice both have an irritating eating habit. This is the view fingers are an important part of eating food.
Alice tends to put just one finger in her mouth when she’s trying to feed. This of course makes her sucking efforts very ineffective. Mom sometimes has to hold her hand back in order to get her started. I think Corwin used to do that as well. Why she does it is a mystery, but it’s not an accident. It may just be that she’s gotten used to sucking her digits when she’s hungry and waiting for Mom to show up and keeps doing it even when there’s food available.
Charles style is to stuff as much food as physically possible in to his mouth and then uses his fingers to help hold it in. If Mom or I try to get him to stop using his fingers, we are rewarded with a tumble of chewed food. On the other hand, we know why he does it…