Rhino Relations

Ben's recent issue of Ranger Rick Magazine was devoted to the rhinoceros, and featured step-by-step instructions for drawing a rhino.  Ben kinda went to town on that, with the following result:

He drew an entire extended family, and then he helpfully labeled them for easy identification.  M1 was the first one he drew, and it most closely resembles the Ranger Rick version.  They became progressively more abstract with each incarnation.  M1 is the Mom.  B2 is the Baby, and was drawn second.  D3 (just to the upper right of B2 -- the "D" is written backwards) is the Dad.  G4 is Grandma, and G5 is Grandpa -- he's holding a book under his front toes.  Ben was very specific about this; it's the thousand page book that my father-in-law was trying to read while we were visiting last Thanksgiving, despite Ben's nefarious attempts to steal his bookmark.  K6 in the upper left is the Kid; he decided that B2 needed an elder sibling.  G7 is Grammy, standing on a box of crayons, a box of pens, and a piece of paper with a drawing on it.  G8 is Grampy, complete with saw, nail, and screwdriver.

Ben has advocated many times for a baby sister or brother, and finally was forced to take matters into his own hands.  When a family friend was pregnant, we explained that she had a baby in her tummy, and eventually the baby came out.  After that Ben would routinely announce that he had another baby in his tummy.  He has given birth at least five or six times now, each time producing a child that he described as his brother or sister.  They grew up quickly.  His sister Emily is now 19 and lives in California, and occasionally comes for a visit.

Oh, I should explain what's written at the top of Ben's drawing.  First of all, he signed it "Ben F", and he wrote the date, "16, 2013".  He then realized that he'd forgotten to include the month, so he tagged it with "PS 2", as in Post Script.