My Virtual Child: Childhood Development Paper

Introduction

My virtual child is a beautiful healthy female and we decided to name her Jacky. We were undecided about what name we wanted to give her. The reason I named her Jacky was because my favorite actor was named Jacky and I just loved the way it sounds. Jacky was a full term baby and had no complications during delivery. The breathing and relaxation techniques really helped a lot during my labor. I was in labor for about ten hours and had a normal birth. And at that moment we fell in love with her cute little face. Having Jacky has really changed our lives for the better. It was hard at the beginning, but with help from our family members we have learned a lot. My partner has really been a good helper and dad for Jacky.

Infancy/Toddlerhood

Activity

As a newborn Jacky slept for about two hours at a time, but then was awake and ready to party. This allowed me to do things around the house and sometimes I took a nap to catch up on house chores and sleep. At 3 months Jacky was awake more often than most babies and seemed to be in constant motion, so when she was feeling active I played lots of physical games like tickling her, pulling her up by the arms and bouncing her lightly. At 8 months, she sometimes cried when I put her to bed at night even though she was sleepy. It made it hard for me because I was really tired by the end of the day, so to help her fall asleep I interacted calmly with her until she looked sleepy, then I rocked her until she fell asleep.

According to the book, “rapid brain growth means that the organization of sleep and wakefulness changes between birth and 2 years, and fussiness and crying also decline. The newborn baby takes round- the-clock naps that total about 16 to 18 hours. The average 2-year-old still needs 12 to 13 hours, but the sleep-wake pattern increasingly conforms to a night-day schedule”(Berk, 2017). Jacky at Month 8, had shown signs of independence, and wanting to be put down so she can crawl, and explore new places and things for longer periods of time. So I let her play freely but kept my eye on her from a moderate distance. Of course, before letting her down I made sure the area or toys were safe for her.

On her physical exam at 9 months, Jacky’s motor skills were typically for her age, but she still wasn’t walking. And by 12 months Jacky learned how to walk and liked exploring the environment around her. Jacky at 18 months was less clingy and she wanted to be put down to explore rather than to be held in my arms, so I let her venture and recognized that it was a normal pattern so I continued providing her support by telling her and by using facial expressions.

According to the report done by the early childhood specialist, Jacky’s was about average for her gross motor development at 19 months. She recommended us to give Jacky plenty of opportunities to play on outdoor and indoor gyms and to play games of catch and kick ball. By age 2, Jacky’s gross motor skills were typically for her age, but she got slightly below average on climbing and slightly above on throwing and catching a ball. My partner and I will take her more to the park, because the specialist recommended more outdoor activities and games of all types.

Sociability

Since Jacky was born I noticed at 3 months that she preferred people over objects, and smiled and interacted with nearly everyone. At 8 months Jacky was comfortable in new situations, and seemed to enjoy meeting new people even after she hesitated. But I still encouraged her to have as much social interaction as she wanted. When Jacky was distressed she preferred me over others and her dad. To help with that I had my partner spend more time with her when feeding, changing diapers, and playing with her. At 9 months according to her physical exam at the pediatrician’s office Jacky made eye contact, smiled at them, and vocalized to them quite a bit. By 12 months, Jacky was able to imitate new words and actions so for that I started to focus on communicating with her more naturally, and letting her decide what she wants to imitate. When Jacky turned 18 months, a little girl had moved in next door who was about the same age as her. I encouraged them to play together quite often, but only in our apartment, because like that I could keep an eye on them and made sure Jacky was not acting too aggressive to her new friend. Jacky’s language skills were developing rapidly, and wanted to talk to me all the time. She seemed to use unusual names for things. Sometimes I heard her talking to herself as she plays alone in her room. To help her with that I would have more conversations with her by naming things that were in and out of the house. Hopefully by doing this it will help her develop her language skills. In terms of Thomas and Chess’s model we feel that Jacky is an easy child. Jacky is very outgoing and friendly with new people at 18 months, activity 9.

This shows that she is outgoing. I keep taking her to the old playground, but I have also introduced her to a new playground at the local recreation center so that she has a chance to meet new friends. At 19 months I had an assessment done on Jacky by the early childhood specialist to see how she compares with other children of her age. According to the specialist, Jacky did pretty well, she seemed to get along very well with other kids, and was unusually cooperative for a child her age. So with that I feel that Jacky will do pretty well in the preschool environment. By 2 years old Jacky has a very close relationship with both of us and has been exploring greater and greater distances from me, by smiling and running back to share things with me, so that is why I continue to be sensitive to her varying needs for independence and attention. I believe that Jacky is extroverted, since she was born she has been outgoing and has confidence in herself.

Emotionality

At 3 months Jacky was generally calm, in a good mood, and was easy to calm down when upset. When Jacky turned 8 months it became clear that Jacky preferred me over others especially when in distress. In order for Jacky to be more attached to her dad, he started to spend more time with her. By 12 months Jacky seemed to get happier and was willing to try new things when I was around. At 2 years of age Jacky has learned the meaning of some new emotions. Like she gets shy when taking a picture, and looks guilty when she breaks something, and embarrassed when she has a potty accident. I realize that all these new emotions are related to her developing self awareness.

Aggressiveness vs. Cooperativeness

At 18 months Jacky was usually calm and cheerful and could tolerate minor problems. So I tried to keep a regular routine, but when Jacky was in a mood I tried some new activities. When living Jacky with the babysitter she would get upset when I left. The babysitter said that Jacky would calm down once we left, but I would tell her where I was going and that I would be back later once I was done. Jacky also had been resistant when asked for cooperation during food or bath time. I recognized this and started to give her options as both of which are things I wanted her to do. This allowed her to feel as if she had the power but still allowed me as the parent to guide her in doing the right things. By 2 years old Jacky had been going regularly to a parent and toddler play-group at the community center, but had been clinging and uncooperative due to the group getting a new leader.

So my partner and I worked on telling Jacky in advance what we wanted her to do and if she showed an improvement, we would praise the positive behavior, but will ignore the negative behavior. I then later had Jacky observed by my friend who was an early childhood development specialist. According to her report Jacky was by the other toddlers as she joined them to play. Jacky was generally not very aggressive with the other kids, but would sometimes say “Mine” if there was a toy she really liked. Jacky a few minutes later she would smile and give the toy to the other child and found another toy that she liked to play with. For a child of her age and the habit for these children to be very focused on themselves I believe this shows that she is cooperative with others.

Self control

I think that Jacky has good self control of herself. In the early months of age Jacky had some reactions and emotions for her age and it also showed in her report towards strangers. We haven't noticed any signs of hyperactivity and she responds very well to our and other people's directions. At 18 months Jacky had sometimes taken on problems that were too difficult for her age level. When she got frustrated, she usually found a way to get me involved before her frustration built up bigger. So I would help by showing interest in what she was doing and gave her helpful hints when she asked for help. By age 2, according to the evaluation done by the specialist, Jacky was able to focus on tasks that were given by her for the entire 40 minutes. She also recommended for us to ask Jacky to carry out more and more complex daily tasks like letting her get dressed and read longer stories to prepare her for preschool.

Goodness of fit

I believe Jacky’s temperament has changed over the past 2 years. As she has become older she has become comfortable getting along with others and relaxed in following rules. Goodness of fit is important and my partner and I have also tried to encourage Jacky to go outside her comfort zone but not very much because we don't want her to pull out from the situation. We really want Jacky to get experience so this can help her with her creativity and curiosity. I want Jacky to do more things herself now that she is 2 years old, so I have let jacky pick out a colorful new toothbrush and a hairbrush. By this I have helped Jacky having her hair done and avoid bad breath. During household rules she occasionally does pretty well, so to help keep the good behavior I ask her what things are coming next, and ask her for help, and praise her for helping.

Childhood

All theories are introduced on the topic of child development and they all have different ideas on how a parent can influence a child’s growth and development. At 8 months of age Jacky was given the object permanence test. Jacky fell into the sensorimotor category development because of her age and Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. In this stage of sensorimotor last from birth to 2 years old. Between 4 to 8 months according to Piaget, a child will reach for the toy at this stage but if you put a blanket over it they will forget or not search for it as they believe it has disappeared. But by 8 months this idea changes because the child starts to recognize that even though the object is covered with a blanket the toy is still there hidden under the blanket. When Jacky was given the test at 8 months she was able to find the hidden object, as long as you didn’t wait too long or distracted her in the middle of the search. However when the object was hidden in a different place, Jacky failed to understand the change and location and had a tendency to look in the old hiding place and got confused about where the object was and she forgot about it.

According to Bowlby's ethological theory of attachment “it recognizes the infant's emotional tie to the caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival, which is the most widely accepted view”(Berk, 2017). He describes that there are four types of attachments that can occur and what it means for a child to form an attachment. The four attachments are preattachment phase (birth to 6 weeks), attachment in the making phase (6 weeks to 6-8 months), clear cut attachment phase (6-8 month to 18 months - 2 years), and lastly formation of a reciprocal relationship (18 months to 2 years and on). I believe that Jacky has developed well because of all the reports saying that she has a secure attachment to both of us in the program and I’m glad to know that she feels safe with both of us.

The report also states that her cooperativeness with others and that she wants to explore and experiment to solve problems, all of these shows that Jacky feels secure to do things. We feel that because of all of these Jacky is able to get along well with others and has just a little anxiety when she is meeting new people or doing something new, but I feel that it is normal because we all feel anxiety when we do new things.