Charlie
When I went to Dad's place, I noticed that my sister's hair looked weird, as she sat on a blanket; one side was longer than the other.
Noticing my look, Dad remarked dryly. "Rach had a tantrum over some other kid's toy that I wouldn't give her. She got so upset that her haircut had to be stopped."
"You had her hair cut???"
"Yeah...I figured she should start getting used to it." Dad said. "Actually, you had your first haircut at around the same age. "
"A friend of mine in the math department has a daughter, who's a hair stylist...maybe she could come over?" I suggested. "I'll pay"
"Charlie, Rach is a little young to go to a hair stylist." he told me. "And you don't need to pay..."
"But we need to have some more profession photos done! She's grown a lot since her birthday." I said.
"Nat's probably gonna have some done for Rach's second" Dad said, with a shrug. Poor Rachael! Like me, she'll have very few pictures of her first years to look at.
"Hey guys!" Don interrupted us, and saw Rachael. With the look on his face, I could almost see the question mark on top of his head. Dad explained what happened.
"Maybe I could fix it?" my brother suggested. Dad looked at him as if he had just grown a third eye.
I asked in disbelief. "You...cutting Rach's hair?"
"When I was a rookie agent, I had a barber as a roommate, and he taught me a few things." Don explained.
"Donnie...I appreciate your offer, but cutting a baby's hair is a very delicate operation. I don't trust myself to do it, and I'm the father!"
"But Dad..."
"Nat and I plan to take her again, when there is less people" Dad interrupted firmly.
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Some days passed, and Natalie's mom had a car accident. Don and I, with Gina's help, were to take care of Rach while Natalie and Dad were in Miami. My brother and I were to take turns staying at dad's place.. Natalie insisted that Rach didn't need such a change in environment.
Natalie gave us a long list of numbers, that seemed to include every person in the United States, and had lots of rules typed up! Dad mostly stressed the need to be firm with Rach, do the exercises, and be there for the lessons with Bob.
Don, Rach, and I saw them off, after a hurried dinner.
"Bye Baby! I'll miss you!" Natalie gave her a big kiss.
Dad hugged Rach, and told her "Try not to give your brothers too much trouble, okay?"
After they were out of sight, we both fought over who would get to take her home.
"Come on! She rode with you on the way here!" Don protested. Our arguing was spoiled by Rach' s getting fussy. Finally, we settled on Don taking her home, though both of us spent the night at Dad's place. She cried twice, and in the morning, Don took her to Gina's place.
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Thankfully, some new toys from American Publishing House, which had toys for blind kids, arrived at my office. After my last class, I went to pick up Rach, but she wasn't there.
"Your brother Don came an hour ago." Gina said.
"Oh..." I got annoyed. "So uh...how did she behave?" Dad had told Don and me to keep on eye on her behavior.
"I tried to get her to ask for one of her wheelie toys by saying ta, but she had a tantrum ." Gina replied with a shrug.
"Maybe she's not quite ready...?" I suggested, agreeing with Don that our poor sister was being pushed too hard.
"Your father said his sister told him that ta is one of the easiest sounds for a small child..."
"Mama! Ga!" Kate, demanded.
"That's my daughter's way of asking for grapes. "Gina smiled, and then turned to her kid "I'll be right there honey, okay? Mommy has a guest"
We talked a bit more, and soon I left.
Don was at Dad's place, trying to feed Rach.
"I thought I was going to pick her up!" I frowned.
"Things were light" Don shrugged. After she ate, I introduced her to some of the new toys and she was happy. A while later, I gave her ice cream.
"We have to put her down" my brother said when she finished it.
"But she's not sleepy" I pointed to my hyper, happy sister.
"Dad said that if we only follow one rule, it's to keep Rach on her routine." My brother told me.
"But she doesn't have to go to work" I countered. "And tomorrow my first class is at ten. "
"I think...Natalie had a rule about not feeding Rach sugar after eight or something..." Don said. "I'll go warm up some milk . Maybe that will help her sleep" He shrugged and went into the kitchen.
My brother soon handed her the bottle of warmed milk. She held it out. "ap!"
"We're supposed to get her to use the bottle herself" Don told me,but I ignored him, put my sister in my lap, and bottle fed her. The poor kid has gone though a lot. After she finished, Don got her from me, and we both put her down.
The next morning, I noticed that she had a diaper rash.
When I brought Rach to the sitter's, I said, "uh...Rach has a diaper rash...but could you not mention it to Natalie and dad.?" I just knew that Natalie would blame it on me, and then get mad at Dad.
"I'll play it by ear. Hopefully with the right care, the rash will get better before they get back." she promised, as I gave her a cranky Rachael. My sister had gotten to sleep later than usual. I got out of the house at the last minute, and didn't bother to dress her. What was the point? She's a baby!
"And uh...she's only had milk for breakfast…..could you give her a snack?"
"Sure..."
With that I went to work. After a long day, I finally got to pick her up.
"How was she?"
"Uncoroporative, cranky and out of her routine." Gina told me. "What time did you put her to bed?"
"nine thirty" I admitted. "She wasn't sleepy."
"I tried to get her to nap at the usual time, but that was impossible." she shook her head. "Try to get her to bed earlier tonight. Babies need their routine."
"okay...thanks!"
"And I changed her into some extra clothes Natalie gave me...you uh...seemed to have forgotten to dress her" Gina continued.
"I didn't see the point..."
"Small children shouldn't be in the same clothes for so many hours. Try to dress her tomorrow..."
"Okay..." I nodded, and carred my sister to the car. Damn! She was getting heavy!
A couple of hours later, when Dad called, I told him everything was going great. What he and Natalie didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
TBC
Stay tuned for more mishaps!
