Everyone who has younger siblings knows how big of a pest they are. They’re like cockroaches… no matter how annoying and disgusting they are, it’s pretty hard to get rid of them. Little brothers steal your things, bite, and scratch, pull your hair, blame everything on you, and make you clean up their mess. I have two younger brothers; Colby, the annoying eight year old, and Kyle, the spoiled four year old. They’re devious. Trust me on that. I love them and would do absolutely anything for them, but they get on my nerves worse than a stupid dramatic eighth grade girl.

Although both of my brothers are special and amazing in their own strange ways, Kyle is just a little more special. You see, Kyle was born missing the middle part of his brain, the Corpus Callosum. They didn’t know at first. He seemed like a perfectly normal healthy baby. But nothing is perfect. The night he was born he was falling asleep, my mother watched him like a hawk, and she noticed he was turning slightly blue. She called in the nurse and they immediately rushed him to Shands at the University of Florida. They gave him oxygen; he was turning blue because his brain wasn’t telling him to breath. From what I understand, the Corpus Callosum transmits messages from the left side of the brain to the right, and the right to the left. Because his brain can’t communicate with itself, it’s slower at learning and doing things. While at Shands hospital he stayed in the Intensive Care Unit hooked up to millions of tiny little wires for a very long time. It was a very terrifying experience for our family.

Because he isn’t as fast as we are at learning, Kyle has just learned to walk. Boy is he funny when he walks! Sometimes he runs, other times he waddles like a penguin just to be silly. He’s Speedy Gonzales! He sure is quite the character. He still isn’t able to speak, though he can say a couple words such as “no,” and “yes,” or “drink,” and “eat.” He usually just makes sounds such as grunts and squeals. Not only that, but he can also motion quite a bit of sign language too.

Being the older sister means I have to help out with him a lot. He can be a handful. Colby helps a lot too. We do our best to help care for him and give him what he needs and wants. Without mine and my brother’s help, I know my mom would lose her mind. Luckily for her, we’re always willing to lend a helping hand. Colby loves to play with Kyle and be silly to make him happy and giggle. I prefer to just do the easy things such as make his plate for dinner or draw his bath. As I said, he needs a lot of attention and care and without all of us, it just wouldn’t happen.

My little brother, Kyle, is one of the most special little boys I’ve ever met. He’s just plain awesome. I love him with all my heart and always will. Although he may mess up my room and get on my nerves, he’s still my baby brother; my cute, silly little brother. You can’t stay mad at his brown puppy dog eyes, chubby little cheeks, and cute little grin. He may not be like most little kids his age, but he’s special. He’s perfect in my eyes.