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In the first two years of my life I underwent many changes. Biosocially, I progressed from sitting by myself, to standing by myself, to walking by myself, to running by myself. Cognitively, I went from simply cooing to making vowel sounds, to babbling, to speaking words, to speaking sentences. Psychosocially, I went from showing signs of anger, fear and attachment to forming a strong attachment to caregivers.
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Around 2 months old, I begin to make basic verbalizations, such as cooing.
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At 5 months old, I sat up without support.
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At 5 months old, I begin to make more complicated verbalizations, such as vowel sounds.
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At 6 months, I stood by myself.
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At only 9 months old, I take my first wobbly steps.
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Almost to talking, at about 10 months old, I begin to babble.
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Right around my first birthday, I say my first actual word.
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Around 13 months old, I run for the first time.
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At 18 months old, my parents begin to toilet train me.
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At two years old, I begin to run without falling, climb, walk up stairs and feed myself. I also torture my parents with my desire to do everything on my own.
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During these years, I attend preschool and establish my first friendships. I learn how to write and I begin kindergarten. Social interaction begins. I expand my vocabulary and learn new physical activities.
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While I am three, I begin jumping, walking down stairs and climbing ladders. I also get my first tricycle!
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At four years old, I attend preschool where I make new friends, learn to write my name and become independent.
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My little brother, Daniel, is born. He is three weeks early but healthy. I got to name him.
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At five, my dad shows me how to tie my shoes on my own.
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At five years old, my mom signs me up for tap and ballet lessons. My father takes my every Saturday for a couple months until I tell him I want to quit.
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During this time I am in elementary school. I create new friendships and grow in previous ones. I feel protective of my little brother but we begin to fight more and distance ourselves from each other. I begin to experience peer pressure and struggle to keep my identity.
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In second grade, I take a test to see if I should be sent to a gifted student program. I do well, but not well enough to get in.
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During adolescence, I go through middle school and high school. I struggle to find my identity and find myself experiencing adult problems for the first time in my life. I create new friendships and go through my first relationships. Some relationships are very unhealthy and end in distress.
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During middle school, I struggled with depression and anxiety, trying to find my identity. These three years were the most painful and awkward years of my life, while I experienced changes in myself, my friends and my family.
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At 11, I begin middle school.
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When I'm 12, my dog dies. My parents got her before I was born so I had never known life without her. She was 16 and very important to me. This is my first experience with the death of someone close to me and I struggled immensely.
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At 12, I am diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I am put on medications for both to try to stabalize me, but I struggle. I have a panic attack while giving a speech in school and miss classes because of my depression.
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At 13, I begin to fight with my parents a lot and struggle to find my identity, seperate from them. I establish independence and branch out in social groups at school.
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At 13, I have my first boyfriend. He is one of my best friends who I met at church.
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My high school years were the time when I began to find myself. I joined cheer and gymnastics and found a love in sports for the first time. Also during high school, I grew in my relationship with God and found a real belonging for the first time with a group of girls that I took Advanced Placement English with.
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The transition to high school is a difficult one for me and I struggle to get good grades and attend class, while still struggling with my depression and anxiety. I end my freshman year with poor grades and having missed almost a third of the school days.
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As a sophomore, I bring my grades up but still miss a large amount of classes due to my on going battle with depression.
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In the summer before my junior year, I continue to struggle with depression and have a very bad break up with my boyfriend at the time. I reach a low and spend the night in the psychiatric ward of the hospital.
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Finally, senior year I get a hold of my depression and anxiety and enjoy my last year of high school. I create lasting friendships and begin to really find my identity. I get my first real job the summer before senior year doing construction work.
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During this time, I break away from my parents and discover independence. I begin taking on adult responsibilities such as paying bills and a steady job. At some point during these years I will get married and start a family.
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At 18, I move out of my father's house and into an apartment with a friend.
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After 5 months living on my own, I exhaust my funds and have to move back into my father's house. He welcomes me back but the transition and sacrifice of freedom is difficult.
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At 19, I buy a car for myself. Because I have no credit established, my aunt cosigns for me, but the payments are all mine. I feel a sense of real pride and accomplishment. For the first time in my life, I own something that is entirely mine.
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During adulthood, I will establish a career, have a strong family life and maintain solid friendships. I will go through the loss of people I love. Around 40, I may experience a midlife crisis and reevaluate my priorities as my children go away to school and start their own families.