Monies!!

Bennett owns at least three piggy banks. One of them is shaped like the Cat in the Hat. In the last couple of days, he has frequently wanted to "play" with "Tat"! (we're working on that hard /c/ sound). So, yesterday, I decided to put the Cat on the floor and see what Bennett did with him.

He immediately found the plug on the bottom and pulled it. He was quite surprised that "monies" came flying out. "Tat poop monies!" was his exact quote, I believe . . . (we're also been working very hard on pooping on the potty instead of in his "unners") Yes, there is money coming out of the Cat's bum, little one.

We started to count the money and talk about the different sizes, but honestly, the most fun was had by putting the money back into the Cat's Hat and then watching it fall again, out the bottom.

I have tried to be vigilant about separating the US currency from the Canadian so that we can show him a little way that his two points of origin are different, but very similar. Hidden among the US coins was a $2CAN piece. He immediately noticed it and held it up. I told him that it was a tooney because it was worth two dollars in Canada. Bennett practiced saying tooney over and over. He was able to find the tooney no matter how deep in the pile of coins I buried it (even if it was inside Cat)! He insisted on calling it a "hooney".

Tonight, we played with the Cat (which has become quite broken in the manhandling over the last two days and no longer holds any "monies" thanks to a cute toddler we all know.) Anyway - Cat was helping to calm an otherwise very upset boy. As I dressed Bennett around the piggy bank, Brian came in to say goodnight. I asked of Bennett, "Can you tell daddy what kind of money you put inside Cat today?" He looked right at Brian and quipped, "A TOONEY!" Brian did a double take and my jaw flew to the floor.

I guess it's clear that he does hear me, just chooses not to listen sometimes.