The First Year Of Life

* 0 – 2 years - From birth a baby can respond to touch and sound, they will recognize a parent or a careers voice and will stare at bright shiny objects by 4 months they will vocalize by ‘cooing’ and ‘babbling’ from 6 months an infant will start to become interested in social interaction but will depend on how much time they have spent with other children. They will also have a fear of strangers and can be distressed if separated from a parent or carer, by the time they are 9 months they will recognize

| There are many physical developments that a child starts to develop by 6months. Some of these include; being able to turn their heads when they hear sounds or see movements, when they are being fed they can stare at the adult’s face, when they hear a familiar voice they will smile, put whatever they have into their mouth and be able to hold and shake a rattle.

The physical development of a baby in its first six months of life shows limited range of movement but the beginnings of an ability to respond to stimulus around them. They show their reaction to people, sounds and movement by turning their head toward whatever attracts their attention. They will watch an adult’s face whilst feeding, but have already begun to shows signs of recognition as they will smile when familiar people are around them either because they can see them

At the age of a year to 17 month children start to get interested in looking through books for a small amount of time. They begin to follow simple directions and answer simple questions with gestures. Children this age recognise familiar objects ,people

Three physical changes the infant undergoes includes (1) going from using basic reflexes to learning complex motor skills (e.g. how to crawl and walk); (textbook p. 142; Chapter 4), (2) developing fine motor skills (e.g. precisely reaching and grasping for a toy); (p. 185; Chapter 5), and (3) developing vision, specifically depth perception and pattern perception (e.g. developing the ability to recognize); (pp. 189-193, Chapter 5). These are examples of the dynamic systems theory of motor development as the infant progresses in a sequence.

Between 6-9 months the baby’s brain will start to develop faster and faster at any other time during their life. Their memory will become quite strong they will repeat things over and over again. They will also learn what they are hearing which could be songs or rhymes or whilst they are being spoken to by parents siblings or strangers.

Babies prefer the sound of humans interacting to other sounds and from this, they quickly learn to recognise and identify their mother’s voice. Babies form their first relationship through emotional attachments with their mother or main carer. The first year of a baby’s life is a period of incredible growth, and a baby’s brain goes through critical periods during which stimulation is needed for proper development. During the babies first years, visual stimuli or verbal language is necessary for areas of the brain to grow and without this growth, a child’s vision or speaking abilities might be impaired. Infants tend to have different cries for hunger or pain, as well as making other noises. These abilities show your child is gaining communication and pre-language skills. Infants from birth to 6 months will forget about objects they cannot see however they begin to explore objects they can see and grab by putting them in their mouths. They will also follow moving objects with their eyes and look around at nearby objects. Infants in this stage will turn to look at a source of sound. These developmental milestones show a baby’s brain is developing and they are gaining new skills. From 7 to 12 months, infants also learn the idea of cause and effect, and they might repeat an action that causes a

Babies grow very fast with rapid weight gain. Birthweight typically doubles by 4 month and triples in a year. Babies will grow more than a foot in height and reaches about 34 inches by the age of 2. This is half of the height of their adult age height.

At around 4-6 months old a baby will have developed an awareness of sound in particularly a person speaking and will turn towards the sound when someone familiar speaks for example their parents. They will start to mimic sounds and start to babble and laugh. Intellectual development is rapid and although they may not be able to speak in more than just babble, their understanding will be greater and they will become much more inquisitive. They will be able to understand simple instructions such as “point to your nose.” By a year old, they’ll be able to say simple words like “Mama” and “Dada” or words with similar sounds. They may start to develop their own language with odd sounding words for common objects that take their interest. Sometimes these words will sound similar to the name of the object particularly if their parents spend time speaking to their child and repeating the names of these objects.

The first two years after birth, through the developing person has to do with three domains biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial. There are many different theories regarding the first two years. The three most influential works on growth and development was done by Piaget, Freud and Erikson. Piaget’s theory was called cognitive development or the sensorimotor stage. This is when the child interacts with his surroundings through physical action such as pushing, sucking, grabbing, etc. Freud’s theory of development is psychosexual. He proposed three stages in psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic. Erikson’s theory is psychosocial. From birth until about one and a

This stage lasts from birth to twelve months. In this stage, infants gain knowledge about their surrounding by using their senses. (Clarke-Stewart, Gruber, & Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 154). They recognize the faces of their caregivers and may respond to smiles. At these stage infants are generally attracted to bright colors, and show response to sound by turning towards the direction of the sound. Studies have indicated that infants between the ages of three and seven weeks have the ability to recognize shapes and pictures of human faces (Goswami, 1994, p. 376).

It was Sunday morning November 5, 2017 the first day of day light savings, I woke at 8 o’clock to use the restroom. Then my boyfriend woke up and asked me if I wanted to go to church at 8:30 a.m., I said yes. We immediately jumped out of bed, and we began to get ready for church. We heated the car for 10 minutes and we left to church. We got to church and the mass was about an hour and a half. After church we went to go pick up my boyfriend’s car to take it to Super Mall in Chicago because he wanted to install an alarm and a remote starter for the winter. We took both cars because they were going to take a while installing the alarm and mean while we can go somewhere else, so we will not be bored. On our way to Chicago I called my mom to see what she was doing, we talked all the way there. While waiting for the car we went to Little Village to get some fresh fruit, chicharrones, and corn. We ate our treats in the car. In the fruit cup there was watermelon, mango, coconut, pineapple, melon, cucumber, and jicama garnished with salt, lime, and tajin. Tajin is a powder seasoned chili. The fruit was very delicious especially the watermelon it was very juicy. After eating our goodies, we went to see if the car was ready, it was ready and we went back home. There was a lot of traffic on our way back home because there was a car accident. When we arrived home, I called my cousin to see if she was home so I can interview her she said yes. We drove to her house and as

At the age of 18 months old I was officially adopted from Guatemala and brought to Michigan, where I would live and grow up with my new adoptive parents and brother. I know that this has immensely shaped the course of my life. Because of my parents I was able to attend a good, private school from kindergarten on, and thus go onto acquire a college education from another Christian institution. Because of this I was able to live a relatively comfortable life surrounded by people who love and support me.

As the sun begins to set and a tiring darkness fills the house, I realize it is that time of day for me to call my parents. I am in a unique situation where I live with my oldest brother in Washington while my parents live in Arizona. A major portion of my young life had been in Arizona; I was born and raised there and had lived in the same house for the first sixteen years of my life. When I think of Arizona, I think of home. In order for a location to be acknowledged by the term “home”, it must be a place that has a great deal of sentimental value. To this day, although I currently live in a house in Washington and I recognize this house as my permanent residence, I will always consider Arizona to be my home.

Looking back on the last year of my life, I realize no one has any guarantees. There is no assurance life will be normal, living in an apple pie manner, growing up, marrying, and having children. My father died when I turned 16, leaving me with mom. Not wanting to relinquish the lifestyle she preferred, she remarried within six months to an older man who appeared to love her, taking them on cruises and lavishing her with expensive gifts. She was his doll, a beautiful woman on his arm who made him the envy of their social set. Introduced as a young ingénue, I would follow in my mother’s footsteps.