Don

Charlie passed the phone to me, a minute or two after I arrived. It was Dad and Natalie's second day in Miami.

"How's Natalie's mom?" I asked him.

"She's recovering slowly but surely" he replied. "Nat's with her. I'm calling you from outside the hospital. How's Rach?"

"Good" I replied, not mentioning the diaper rash, or Rach's being out of her routine.

"Are you sure?" he persisted, guess none assures Charlie gave weren't enough

"yeah…want me to put her on the phone?"

"That's alright. Kids her age don't' really get the concept of telephones" He told me. Chuckling, my Dad added. "I remember when you were Rach's age, and your mother or I would work late, the other would try to put you on the phone, and you'd just to play with it."

We talked some more. I assured Dad that both of us were doing the exercises, though in truth, Charlie focused on the wrong kind (that is her toys), and I did very short sessions. I could be a tough guy with criminals, but with my sister, I'm a total softie.

I gave Rach her milk early, so that I could put her down at her proper bedtime. The sitter told me over the phone that Rach was out of sorts from being out of her routine.

My sister insisted with whining, that I hold the bottle for her, as she sat in my lap, but I said no, remembering Dad's words.

"She doesn't need her eyesight to use the bottle. Besides, it'll help her coordination."

Finally, after being as firm as Dad, she, with her two little hands held the bottle on her own. Drinking most of the milk, she just dumped the bottle next to me. I shrugged and put it the kitchen.

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Then, I bathed her. By the end, my clothes were soaked from her love of splashing. Combing her hair, which looked like dad's, was a pain in the ass! She moved a lot, and then started complaining in baby talk.

A few days later, Bob came over for the lesson.

"Hello Rach!" he put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped a little. "How are ya?"

She ignored him and rubbed her face. Thanks to Charlie, my sister was cranky. Dressing her had been a hassle, and she protested at everything, even at the breakfast I gave her. My brother claimed that she wasn't sleepy at her bedtime; I reminded him that he was the adult, and should have been firmer about that. He just looked at me sheepishly.

"Did ya just wake up?" he asked.

"yeah..." Charlie lied.

"Where are Alan and Natalie?"

"They had to go to Miami. Natalie's mother had a car accident" I explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that" he said.

"She's recovering, but needs her family by her side" I added.

"Of course." He got the precane, and took Rach by the hand.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen?" he suggested. "To get ice cream!" Gently, he got her to get up, after giving her a spoon, and put the precane in one hand.

"Looks like he's trying to teach her to figure out her way around" my brother remarked.

"this is the coffee table, it's right next to the couch" he put the precane on each of them, but she squirmed from his grasp impatiently, and sat back down.

"Don't you want ice cream Rach?"

She ignored him.

Shrugging, he quizzed her on body parts.

"Show me your nose"

She touched it.

"Mouth?"

My sister soon found her mouth.

He asked her about a few more body parts, and she got them all right. That's my sis!

As a reward Bob gave her a piece of a milky way.

"My father does those kinda drills all the time..." Charlie told Bob.

"And it shows!!" he told him. "Practice makes perfect."

"yeah it does..." my brother agreed "I tell that to my students whenever they complain about the amount of homework I give them."

"I get that complaint too..." Bob comiserated.

"Eeha!" my sister interupted them in her 'I want more' tone.

Bob sang a verse of 'if you're happy and you know it' song, while getting her to clap. His singing seemed to cheer her up and she soon clapped on her own. So, bob did an encore; she clapped by herself this time, and Charlie joined her.

With my brother's prodding, I joined in the next round, which had us all stomping our feet loudly; I felt silly. This appealed to my sister's love of making noise, which drove Dad crazy. When that was done, Bob gave her some more of the milky way.

"Wasn't that fun?" he asked in his most cheery voice, and then he explained to Charlie and me. "What we did here, was not just sing a goofy song, but help her with several skills: coordination, following directions, vocabulary, and how to have fun with family! Play is good for her, if its interactive.

"I got her a bunch of interactive toys from American Publishing house" Charlie put in his two cents. "Let me show you...maybe you can advise us on how to make the most of these toys?"

"Perhaps after the lesson" Bob said gently "So...how's the vocalization going?"

"She's getting the concept..." Charlie replied lamely. Bob again did the exercise of having a toy make noise, only to try to get her to ask for it. This of course annoyed her, and she just whined in babytalk.

"say...ba!" Bob requested for the third time.

She got so frustrated, that finally, a tantrum started. Bob diplomatically suggested that she take a nap, and that the lesson was over.

"We're at the point of diminished returns" he told us, and then gave Charlie advice about the toys.

Charlie calmed her down with ice cream, and then we took her to the park, with lots of toys in tow. As always, she focused on the ones that made a lot of noise. I was annoyed at first, but then I realized that my brother and should be grateful that she actively playing, despite her fall, instead of being stuck to a bed on life support. Charlie worked on stuff, and I joined her. One was a type of semi piano-like thing but with big, keys. I attempted a type of 'Simon' game with her, but she perferred to do her own thing.

Soon, my brother, walked her to the play area. She went on a slide, but with Charlei's hands on her waist. After a few round of that, and some time on a swing., she got cranky, and went fell sleep in her stroller.

"We should go get pizza when she wakes up" my brother suggested.

"sure.." I smiled until my cell rang. Unfortunatly, it was for work, so I left after telling Charlie to save me some slices.

The next time I saw my sister. Her skin was filled with rashes, and she seemed to be in a bad mood.

"What the hell happened??" I demanded.

"She...uh...walked into a patch of poison ivy in the park"

"What???" I noticed that my brother didn't have any.

"She's...fine! Her doctor prescribed some cream" Charlie rushed his words nervously

I demanded "Where were you when this happen?" My brother probably let his mind wander. It's irresponsible to do that with a little kid around!

"Nearby!" he didn't' quite answer my question. "And the odds of there being poison ivy at a park are very insignificant!"

"Try telling her that!" I retorted. Poor Kid! But I added "Don't mention this to Dad, I'll take care of it"

"Uh…..actually he uh...knows.."

"What???"

"I took the day off, so that Gina wouldn't see her like this and tell Dad, but he got suspicious..." my brother began sourly.

"And...?" Leave it to Charlie to spill the beans!

"Natalie overheard us and started yelling something about how they should have called Aunt Rach to stay with little Rach...and uh...he's coming home..."

TBC