After I got my laptop back from the repair service, I found, while looking through my files, an article I wrote which was intended to be published in this blog before Nina's 2nd birthday.
But months before her birthday, before I was able to do that, my laptop broke.
And now reading it again made me smile. I had fun writing it in the train going to work or on the way home. And even if its already late, I would love to share it with you guys.
I wasnt able to finish it, give my observation on all the points or even make my summary and conclusion. The most important thing, she made it through!
I had fun doing it, maybe when I have time I will make another one ;-)
Here we go:
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| Taken during the month I was making this article: Nina eating her ice cream! |
Name: Nina Janssens
Toddler: 19-20 months
(1 year 7 months - 8 months)
Physical
Development
Weight is now approximately 3
times the child's birth weight.
"
Nina was born with 3,41 kg and
is now 11,5 kg"
Respiration rate varies with
emotional state and activity.
Rate of growth slows
Head size increases slowly;
grows approximately 1.3 cm every six months; anterior fontanelle is nearly
closed at eighteen months as bones of the skull thicken.
Anterior fontanelle closing or
fully closed, usually at the middle of this year.
Chest circumference is larger
than head circumference.
Legs may still appear bowed.
Toddler will begin to lose the
"Baby Fat" once he/she begins walking.
Nina started walking at 14
months and her face is getting slimmer.
Body shape changes; takes on
more adult-like appearance; still appears top-heavy; abdomen protrudes, back is
swayed.
Motor development
Crawls skillfully and quickly
"
Since the beginning when she learned how to
crawl, Nina had an odd way of doing it.
One leg (right) extended and the other in a crawling position almost
like she is trying to stand up half way.
We brought her to the physician next door (Hilde Corstjens) to check if
it would be a problem in the future if this will go on. The physician said normally this will pass
and she would have no trouble learning how to walk properly. Effect on her back or posture cannot be
confirmed yet as of now. The physician
told us to try to maybe to correct it once in a while but not to the extent
that she will get irritated and would not want to learn how to crawl
anymore. Also to let her, if ever she
tries to get up, use legs alternately and not always one dominant leg as
support. We tried it for a few weeks but
as stubborn as she is, she didn’t let us correct her…so we just let her do her
way…but it didn’t take long till she started to walk on her own."
Stands alone with feet spread
apart, legs stiffened, and arms extended for support.
"She stands up like adults stand up from a
sitting position (slant on one side and push up with one leg or even both). Her
arms are extended for balance when she stands up."
Can get up to their feet
unaided
"She can stand up
without help from other people."
Most children walk unassisted
near the end of this period; falls often; not always able to maneuver around
obstacles, such as furniture or toys.
"She can walk on her own since she was 14 months
so she had now 4 months to practice her balance and maneuvers. She doesn’t fall that often, she immediately
protects herself when there is someone or something coming too fast towards her
by crossing both her arms in front of her face with eyes closed. She could run around the table and kitchen
island quite good. But when she wants to
go faster, she asks the hand of an adult so she could have more balance while doing
it."
Uses furniture to lower self
to floor; collapses backwards into a sitting position or falls forward on hands
and then sits.
"If there is furniture close by, yes she uses it
for support, otherwise, she just lets herself fall back on her behind when she
wants to sit on the floor. Sitting on
the couch or chair is not a problem."
Enjoys pushing or pulling toys
while walking
"When she is on the way to get something or to go
somewhere and sees another thing more interesting on the way, it catches her
attention. She gets that new thing and
forgets about the original reason of her travel. She likes touching things when she pass by
but not pulling or pushing."
Repeatedly picks up objects
and throws them; direction becomes more deliberate.
"If she is sitting by the table then she lets her
spoon fall or little pieces of her bread and says afterwards, “Lepel
(ge)vallen!” She repeats this for a
couple of times until we get tired of picking it back up to the table."
Attempts to run; has difficulty
stopping and usually just drops to the floor.
"She likes to run
(actually a fast walk for adults) and can stop without difficulty."
Crawls up stairs on all fours;
goes down stairs in same position.
"There was a moment when she tried to walk
upstairs with fours. After a week, she
stopped. She wants to go upstairs
straight up like adults does instead."
Sits in a small chair
"She can sit well in a chair or in her small
couch…but often tries to stand up and dance on it or to sit on the edge which
is very dangerous. She does this
normally when she is watching television or Plop. That’s why someone always has to be closeby when
she watches television."
Carries toys from place to
place
"That’s why our house is
so messy all the time!"
Enjoys crayons and markers for
scribbling; uses whole-arm movement.
"She definitely enjoys using colored pens and
markers. I don’t give her crayons yet or
colored pencils cause she still bite it or put it in her mouth. She can scribble and she loves to draw the contour
of her hand or mine on a piece of paper.
I also gave her a coloring book with characters she is familiar with… to
enhance the interest in coloring. She
still holds the pen with her whole hand in a fist position and moves with her whole arm.
She has access to the place where the pens are
so when she is wants to do it, she gets it and asks me to put her up her chair."
Helps feed self; enjoys
holding spoon (often upside down) and drinking from a glass or cup; not always
accurate in getting utensils into mouth; frequent spills should be expected.
"She always wants to eat by herself…she occasionally
asks help from an adult (mostly from Mama) when she couldn’t put the food
properly on her spoon or fork but most of the time she refuses help and tries
every time on her own. And if it doesn’t
work, she just resorts to using her hand.
She holds the spoon almost correctly and drinks
from her glass. 90% of the time we still
use a cup with a cover and hole. The
last few days she says “(S)lowly” more often meaning she wants us to take the
cover out so she can drink without it.
And the word “slowly” cause I tell her all the time to drink slowly in
case she wants to drink that way. She
enjoys drinking from bottles with small openings like what Niels uses in his
school…like big brother, like small sister ;-)"
Helps turn pages in book
"Whenever she reads a book (kids books, thing
carton ones), she puts the book on her lap and can almost perfectly turn every
page without missing. She also knows, by
recognizing the few pages before the end of the book, that the book is almost
finished. And if she doesn’t want that
reading moment to end, she goes back to the first page even if the book is not
totally finished yet. She has a book of
___ pages with every page a picture of an item.
And she can perfectly name all of it without failure!"
Stacks two to six objects per
day
"She started showing interest (at home at least)
in stacking up blocks about a month or 2 ago.
She can easily stack up 12 pieces on top of each other without having
them fall. She doesn’t like pushing them
to fall; she likes to keep them up like how she made it. But I had a conversation with Oma (her
grandma from her father’s side) that when she is with them, she likes pushing
the blocks down and claps after the blocks fall."
Cognitive development
Enjoys object-hiding
activities
"She loves to hide herself behind the curtains. She says, “(Vers)toppertje” when she want to
play hide-and-seek. And normally she
hides always at the same please, behind the curtains! Objects are not really a favorite thing to
hide; she is more into “hiding herself”."
Early in this period, the
child always searches in the same location for a hidden object (if the child
has watched the hiding of an object). Later, the child will search in several
locations.
Passes toy to other hand when
offered a second object (referred to as "crossing the midline"-an
important neurological development).
"24.05.2012
I will try to see tomorrow what she will do if I give her something on
her hand which is already occupied."
Manages three to four objects
by setting an object aside (on lap or floor) when presented with a new toy.
"Correct."
Puts toys in mouth less often
"She still does put things in her mouth but less
than before. And if she does this a lot
again, it means she is growing some new teeth.
She puts her spoon and fork upside down in her mouth if she plays with it."
Enjoys looking at picture books
"Totally one of her favorite things to do. If she is tired playing with her toys or
walking around, she goes to the corner cabinet where all her and Niels’ books
are kept. She takes them all out and lay
them all on the floor until she finds the book she is looking for. She takes this book and sits on the big
couch, in her mini couch, on the floor or sometimes in her doll’s bed. She sits there and starts turning the page
while naming one by one the object on the picture. But of course she leaves the
rest of the books on the floor. She varies from a book with 1 picture per page,
big drawing and nice colors to a big book (about A4 size) with smaller pictures
and a scenario with it. She puts her
attention to things in that page which she is familiar with. If for example there is this Dora the Explorer
book with one page a setup of Dora and her friends eating ice cream. She sees the ice cream, she sees that Dora’s
eyes where closed while she was licking the ice cream…she says then that Dora
is sleeping. She sees Lisa with a bike
and comments only on the bike."
Demonstrates understanding of
functional relationships (objects that belong together): Puts spoon in bowl and then uses spoon as if
eating; places teacup on saucer and sips from cup; tries to
make doll stand up.
"She sees when we eat breakfast all together that
Papa and Niels get teaspoon for their mug of Chocolate milk. Mama gets a teaspoon for her coffee. So when I give her an open mini mug and put
water in there, she also asks for teaspoon and stirs her water with it. She also knows that when we eat, we have
spoon, fork and knife. We put the same
for her but when she doesn’t need it, she loudly asks for it! A sock comes with her shoe. She also knows that."
Shows or offers toy to another
person to look at.
"When there is a new toy or even an old one that
gets her interest on that certain period, she shows it to me, or to Niels."
Names many everyday objects.
"She knows lots of words already and tries to
make conversation about it. It may not
always be understandable but she tries to repeat if she thinks we don’t
understand. If there is an object she
named and I confirmed with another object which is not what she meant, she
takes a pause and tells it to me once more."
Shows increasing understanding
of spatial and form discrimination: puts all pegs
in a pegboard; places three geometric
shapes in large formboard or puzzle.
"Forms she can properly recognize and 75% of the
time can put in the correct place. She
is also showing interest in 6-piece-puzzels (of Winnie the Pooh). She likes playing with “Rupsje”"
Places several small items
(blocks, clothespins, cereal pieces) in a container or bottle and then dumps
them out.
Tries to make mechanical
objects work after watching someone else do so.
"She has a small winding television; she knows
already how to turn it off and on and to turn the knob to wind back the scene"
Responds with some facial
movement, but cannot truly imitate facial expression.
"When she is asking a question, she raises her
voice at the end of her sentence, speaks so sweetly soft, puts her face close
to me and her eyebrows a little bit higher.
If she needs something urgently, she talks straight and hard and with a
little frown on her face saying that she is in a hurry and needs my answer
quickly!"
Most children with autism are
diagnosed at this age.
Language
Produces considerable
"jargon": puts words and sounds together into speech-like (inflected)
patterns.
Holophrastic speech: uses one
word to convey an entire thought; meaning depends on the inflection
("me" may be used to request more cookies or a desire to feed self).
Later; produces two-word phrases to express a complete thought (telegraphic
speech): "More cookie," "Daddy bye-bye."
Follows simple directions,
"Give Daddy the cup."
When asked, will point to
familiar persons, animals, and toys.
Identifies three body parts if
someone names them: "Show me your nose (toe, ear)."
"She already knows the
following (English):
Head-part:
eyes, nose, mouth, ears
Body:
Tummy, hands, arms, fingers
Lower-part:
Foot, legs, toes
She
already knows the following (Nederlands):
Hoofd: Ogen, neus, oren, tong, tandjes
Boven Lichaam: Handjes,
armen, buik
Onder: Voeten, teenen,
benen, poep
She already knows the
following (Tagalog):
Pwet"
Indicates a few desired
objects and activities by name: "Bye-bye," "cookie"; verbal
request is often accompanied by an insistent gesture.
Responds to simple questions
with "yes" or "no" and appropriate head movement.
Speech is 25 to 50 percent
intelligible during this period.
Locates familiar objects on
request (if child knows location of objects).
Acquires and uses five to
fifty words; typically these are words that refer to animals, food, and toys.
Uses gestures, such as
pointing or pulling, to direct adult attention.
Enjoys rhymes and songs; tries
to join in.
"Plop liedjes"
Seems aware of reciprocal
(back and forth) aspects of conversational exchanges; some turn-taking in other
kinds of vocal exchanges, such as making and imitating sounds.
Social
Less wary of strangers
"With adult strangers, she is still a little bit
aloof, but with kids, it doesn’t matter what age, she will go directly play
with them or say hi to them and touch them on the face."
Helps pick up and put away
toys.
Plays by themselves
Enjoys being held and read to.
Often imitates adult actions
in play.
"She puts her baby in
the naughty corner."
Enjoys adult attention; likes
to know that an adult is near; gives hugs and kisses.
Recognizes self in mirror
"She likes looking at herself when we are in the
bathroom brushing teeth. She wants to
see her tummy and talks against herself on the mirror and smiles or laughs."
Enjoys the companionship of
other children, but does not play cooperatively.
Beginning to assert
independence; often refuses to cooperate with daily routines that once were
enjoyable; resists getting dressed, putting on shoes, eating, taking a bath;
wants to try doing things without help.
May have a tantrum when things go wrong or if overly tired or
frustrated
"Precisely! She doesn’t
have patience when a block for example doesn’t immediately fit into the whole,
or if she couldn’t connect a Lego block to each other."
Exceedingly curious about
people and surroundings; toddlers need to be watched carefully to prevent them
from getting into unsafe situations.
End
