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Alice born into the world
On June 6th 2009 Alice was born into this world. After being born Alice was tested for 29 disorders that the American College of Medical Genetics recommends. These test range from hearing difficulties to sickle-cell anemia, and even extreme rare conditoins such as isovaleric acidemia (Pg. 92). These disorders were tested from a tiny quantity of blood drawn from Alices' heel.
As we had hoped Alice was a healthy and happy baby. She tested negative for all 29 diseases. -
Interested in her surrounding
At 3 months of age, Alice is showing more intense interest in her surroundings. Alice smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things. -
Doesnt like parting
At 8 months Alice is sometimes a little reluctant to part from you at daycare and starts crying. She usually gets over it quickly after you leave. Alice is experiencing some separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is the distress displayed by infants when a costomary care provider departs (Pg. 172). Separation anxiety shows important social progress with both cognitive advances and growing emotional and social bonds between infants and caregivers (Pg 172). -
Throwing out of crib
Alice is now 12 months old, and Alice really enjoys throwing every toy out of her crib and watching what happens over and over.
According to Piaget's six substages of the sensorimotor stage, Alice is in substage 5; the tertiary circular reaction stage. In this stage Alice carry's out miniture experiments to determine the consequence of each experiment (Pg. 146). Alice repeatedly throws her toys out of her crib to see where they land and how her parents react each time she does her experiment. -
Imitate actions
At 19 months Alice is able to imitate actions or words that she has seen or heard days before. This greatly expands her ability to learn new things. Alice also seems to be aware of basic categories, such as big or little, and blue or red. You can tell because of the way she is sorting her toys.
Alice is experiencing deferred imitation. According to Piaget deffered imitation is when a person who is no longer present is imitated later (pg. 147). -
Moral behavoior lying
Alice is now 3 years old and she has begun occasionally lying about accidents or rule violations (such as sneaking a cookie before dinner). The lies are pretty lame (e.g., there is a trail of cookie crumbs). I recognize this as a sign of a theory of mind, but you wait until you catch her in the act, explain that lying is wrong, and put her in time-out. For good measure, I also explain that being lied to makes people feel bad. -
Fantasy play
Alice is 3 years old and she enjoys fantasy play and tends to enact scenes with her toy animals and cartoon figures, sometimes playing for a half hour at a time. It is so interesting to see her play different roles and watch her grow. -
Baby paisley
When Alice was 3 years old, our family welcomed a new baby into the world, Alices' baby sister, Paisley. Paisley was born October 14th, 2012. -
Great Uncle Passed away
When Alice was 3 years old our family got some unpleasant news that Alices' great had Uncle passed away. -
Signs of jealousy
Alice is 3 years old and she was excited about the birth of Paisley a year ago and participated in her care. But she occasionally shows signs of jealousy, such as taking her sister's toys. She is also showing regressive behavior (e.g. clinging, throwing temper tantrums and thumb sucking). This could be because she is not getting all the attention she used to get, but she will learn soon that it is not on purpose and she is means just as much as Paisley does. -
Mother and father seperated
When Alice was 4 her mother and father separated. Alice was sad when she got the news, but it was an easy separation so Alice spent plenty of time with her father to make it better. -
First Day of School
Alice was 5 years old on her first day of school. She was nervous, but very excited about this new adventure in her life. -
Game Cheating
Alice is now 6 years old, abd she cheats at games when she can get away with it. Sometimes when she gets caught, she gets upset and doesn't want to keep playing the game. I realize that Alice hasn't developed a strong sense of morality yet, but I know she will get there. -
Broken Arm
Alice is 6 years old now and two weeks ago she fell off the climbing gym at school and broke her arm. Although boys are more at risk for injuries, the rate of injury for children increase between the ages 5 and 14 (Pg. 284-285).
It is good that Alice participates in these physical activities at school because participating in these types of activities help maintain physical fitness, learn physical skills, and help to become comfortable with ones own body (pg. 285). -
Puppy
Alice is 8 years old now, and as a family we decide it is time for a family pet, so we get a puppy. -
Best Friend Moved
Alice is 8 now, and her best friend who lived just down the block moved away a month ago. Alice has been moody since then, and had a few arguments with children at school. Alice is having a difficult time with the move because she was in stage 2 of the 3 stages of friendship developed by William Damon. Stage 2 is basing friendship off trust. In this stage friends are seen as those who can be counted on to help out when they are needed (Pg. 334). Alice is feeling alone, with no one to count on. -
Weight Gain Problem
Alice is 8 years old and she seems to be able to eat a lot without gaining any weight. Alice participates in a lot of physical activities and she may have a high metabolism rate.
Although Alice does not gain weight it is important that she is still getting all the nutrition she needs. Nutrition is very important. Not only does nutrition promote the growth of strong bones, but it is also related to the development of healthy teeth, and even linked to cognitive performance (pg. 277). -
Braces
Alice is now 12 years old and she just got back from a dentist appointment, during which her dentist suggested it might be time for braces. Alice wasn't opposed to the idea, and even jokingly referred to herself as "rabbit teeth" on the ride home from the dentist. We talked the idea over and decided that braces were a go! -
Fair and not fair
Alice is now 12 and she talks quite often about what is "fair" and "not fair", and you realize she is developing some moral principles.
Moral development refers to changes in people's sense of justice and what is right and wrong, and in their behavior related to moral issues (pg. 261). It is good that Alice is developing this moral behavior because it means that she is starting to understand the difference between right and wrong. -
Parenting
Whe Alice was 13 she told her mother some reassuring things. She recently said that her mom was about as supportive and approving of her as the average parent. She also added "and you're also about average in strictness compared to other parents too." Well there is always room for improvement, but it is nice to be reminded that you aren't failing as a parent, even if it is your daughter telling you. -
Joined the High School Dance Team
Alice is now 14 and she auditioned for the high school dance team and made it! She seems to be very serious about learning new forms of dance and practices routines and does warm-ups and stretches every day. We are so proud of her and cannot wait to attend her dance competitions. -
Drivers Liscense
Alice is 16 years old today, and she just got her driver's license after 50 hours of driving with you, and passing the tests. The driver training instructor reported that Alice was a conscientious driver. She never went over the speed limit, always came to complete stops, and was very alert while driving on the freeway. -
Got the ACT scores in
Alice is 18 years old now and she just received her test scores on the ACT and SAT. She scored in the top 5-10% on all verbal subtests and the top 15% on all math and science tests. We are extremely excited for Alice and begin to help her research colleges and prepare applications! -
Decided on College
Alice is 18 years old and after considering her other options, Alice has decided to go to an art-design school but needs to work for a year to help the family afford it. We are so proud of her accomplishments and now that she will do us proud after she saves money for herself to attend college.
