Zookeeper Peter

It's probably just a baby thing, but it sure seems like Peter's life is covered with animals. There's his jungle-themed stroller, carseat, and pack-and-play, the hippo gym, and his tummy-time blanket also is a cute jungle theme.

All of his toys are animals as well, with the exception of the baseball glove Kevin bought for him, because, really, it's never too early to start playing catch.

Peter's menagerie includes:

Monterey, the fish; San Jose, the shark; Serengeti the elephant

Galapagos the tortoise; Calamari the octopus; Everglades (or Crikey!) the Alligator (or Crocodile)

Hip-hop-anonamous the Hippo; Outback the kangaroo; Kalahari the lion

So, yes, I spent probably more time than was needed thinking of educational names for Peter's animals. And there are some flaws - calamari refers to squid, not octopus, and I have no idea if it's an alligator or a crocodile.

I'm in the process of composing theme songs and dances for each animal, so that Peter can learn to recognize them with three senses - visual, audio, and tactile. So far, we've been working on Monterey and San Jose, mixing Galapagos and Serengeti into the mix occasionally.

Peter also enjoys his two Busy Bees (neither of which is a bee).

Busy Bee #1 and Busy Bee # 2 (a.k.a. The Deuce)