Pop-Eye and PlayMates!

Even though we are in Japan, we still get many of the American channels. Lately, Ben's favorite channel is the Boomerang Channel with all the old Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo and the Pink Panther. But his favorite show by far, is Pop-Eye the Sailor. He thinks it is just so cool that Pop-Eye eats spinach and then "knocks people out!" Okay, that sounds bad, but it seems funny when he started demanding spinach so he could be strong too. We've had spinach salad before, so this wasn't too tall of an order. So on Sunday, I prepared a spinach salad, and I'm pretty sure that no child in the history of the world was more excited to eat it. He took a few bites, and literally, I think he believed he was getting stronger. He flexed his arms and with the most serious face, waited for the spinach to go through his muscles and make him a million times stronger. John and I just couldn't keep our laughter as he then tried to pick up his chair and declared "it isn't working!" We told him he had to eat all the spinach for it to make him strong. And so he ate his plate of spinach clean...holy cow...the power of pop-eye! However, he seriously spent the rest of the night, testing his new abilities and declaring how strong he was. Funny boy!

The kids have been doing great, and Ben and Bella are very excited to start school next week...I'm pretty excited too. I don't know what to do with myself for the times when it's just Amelia and I...okay, I can think of a million things. Anyway, the summer was crazy but I think the kids have bonded much more and it's just nice to have our lives back to normal. Amelia is almost 14 months old, and she is at that stage where she chatters all the time, and tries to have a conversation with you. She loves that she is able to play with her siblings, and is doing her best to keep up with them.
Just look at those chompers!