Observations of Baby Maria
...ou read on, specific examples will be given to prove that she is right on time with other children her age, according to the textbook. Maria is, without a doubt, on track with her physical development, maybe even a bit more advanced than other children her age. Her mother, Regina, believes that it may be due to Regina teaching dance while she was pregnant with Maria, however, she is unsure. Maria weighs 27 pounds and is approximately 34 inches, which is common for her age. Maria can walk around the house without assistance from her parents or furniture. A characteristic of hers is she loves to walk on her toes. Rarely do you see her walking on her full foot, which once again may be related to Regina and dance. In addition, she’s very flexible. When she sits down to watch television, her normal position is to sit with her legs out in front of her while she touches her toes. I don’t believe that most 18 months old sit comfortably in that position. While I was observing her, I noticed that she can kick a ball that’s medium in size, as well as throw the same ball. However, there’s not much effort in the throw so it doesn’t go that far. It appears that her dominant side is right from the fact that she kicks, throws, eats and draws with her right side. That’s not unusual considering 90% of the world is right-handed. It’s difficult to observe a child’s cognitive development in the time period of two hours. However, I did take notice to a few things. Maria has a sufficient memory. For example, every time I show up, she relates in her head that her parents are leaving, since I am the babysitter. So, automatically when she sees me, she clings to her parents. This time, Regina and Tony explained to her that they were not leaving and I was just there to play with them. She began to open up after she heard that. When looking in the mirror or at pictures of herself, Maria knows that it is her. When I showed her a picture of her and I, she pointed at me and said "Dan” and pointed at herself and said “Me.” That shows perfectly that she has self-awareness of who she is, and 18 months...