"Poochie" vs. "Pucci"

Miss Mouse and I were doing geography the other morning - Thursday, I think. Sunny was working on patterns on the floor; I draw a couple of starts of patterns, and she fills in what comes next.  Miss Mouse's lesson was about North and South America; we've been studying about continents the past two weeks. The book talked about Amerigo Vespucci. The girls were both pretty excited about it, but Sunny was still focused on her patterns. I was pleased with a fun lesson and made a mental note to myself to order some library books about Mr. Vespucci. End of lesson....I thought.

Before Mighty Mouse went to bed later that evening, Sunny was helping me entertain him and clean up his room. She was playing with the stuffed bear she had given him as a birthday present, and she suddenly said, "I think his name should not be 'Fluffy Bear' (the name she first chose). I think it should be 'Poochie'". I responded that that was a nice name, too, thinking how cute it sounded. Well, a few minutes later, Miss Mouse came in the room, and Sunny updated her sister on the bear's new name. "Oh!", Miss Mouse responds, "You named him after that explorer man!". What? My poor fuzzy brain had no idea what they were talking about. I was especially confused when Sunny looked extraordinarily proud and nodded her head with a big grin (the one with raised eyebrows - that's her "I am so funny and someone finally got it" look). I had to ask them for an explanation, so they humored me and explained how this "Poochie" guy had sailed around and everyone thought he had found the other side of Asia ("you know, Mom, that continent named after the rising sun?"), but he figured out he was on the other side of the world, and now our continents are named after him. The lights finally came on. Oh!!! Amerigo Vespucci! Yes, yes, yes!!!! The girls were so pleased when their poor, slow-to-remember-Mommy had finally remember what she'd taught nine hours earlier.

So, apparently the bear's name is now "Pucci". The girls giggle everytime they remind their brother of the bear's name and remind him where the name came from. Such fun!!!