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Birth
Kieran was born by C-section, which means he was surgically removed. He was positioned transversely and couldn't be safely turned to go through the birth canal. (pages 98-99) The delivery went fine and there were no other complications. Sometimes, babies born through C-section need help breathing, thankfully, this was not the case with Kieran. Newborns are evaluated with the Apgar scale to test how heathy they are. (page 88) Happily, Kieran's score was 7-8, which is average. -
Separation Anxiety
Kieran is 13 months old and starting to show signs of separation anxiety. He clings to his father or I when dropped off at daycare and calms down a little while after we leave. Separation anxiety is common in babies accross all cultures. It usually begins around 7 or 8 months of age and peaks at about 14 months old. Kieran's cognitive abilities have developed to the point that he is able to understand that we are leaving him, but not why. (page 172) -
Tertiary Circular Reactions
Kieran is experimenting with his environment. He is trying to figure out how simple actions affect objects. For example, pushing his bath toys undrwater and seeing what they do; sink or pop back up. These deliberate experiments are part of Piaget's fifth substage of sensorimotor development. (page 146) This stage is called tertiary circular reactions, and usually lasts from about 12 to 18 months. During this stage Kieran is trying to figure out the cause and effect of simple actions. -
Beginning of Thought
Kieran is 19 months old and is imitating actions and words that he saw or heard the day or week before. He has also become more aware of categories, such as; big or little and quiet or loud. These actions are an indication of Piaget's sixth substage, beginning of thought. This stage usually lasts fom about 18 months to 2 years of age. Kieran has started gaining the capaicty for mental representaion. He is remembering something he saw, and trying to reenact it. (page 147) -
Potty Training
Kieran is 2 and has become determined to use the big boy potty. He makes it about 60% of the time. His father and I follow Brazelton's approach to potty training. We are encouraging, but ultimately have waited for Kieran to show signs that he is ready. Potty training differs with every child and can start anywhere from 18 to 30 moths of age. (page 213) -
Theory of Mind
Kieran is three and has showed signs of theory of mind. He is role playing more complex stories using his imagination. It's often about something familiar, like a superhero or a pretend family. There have been a couple other examples of theory of mind before, but this is the best one so far. Although he understands "pretend", Kieran is not old enough to completely understand "belief". This has been demonstrated by researchers through false belief tasks. (pages 256-257) -
Gender
Kieran is 4 and has become aware of gender identity and is using this new information to create gender schemas. For example, he believes boys can't play with dolls or dress up, and girls can't be firefighters or poice officers. His dad and I are trying to explain that there are lots of things both boys and girls can do; cooking, firefighting, dancing, and teaching. Children this young base gender on appearance, rather than biology. (page 252) -
Kieran Started School
Kieran is 5 and has started kindergarten. On his first day Kieran was nervous and quiet but his teacher came over and held his hand while he walked to the playground. When I picked him up, he was his usual quiet self and was tired and wanted to cuddle. He did mention that his teacher was nice and he had no problems going back. -
I wanna be like dad
Kieran has been following his dad around and imitating what he does and says (which means his dad has been careful about any cursing). Clinically, you could say Kieran has started what Freud would call identification. He is trying to be similar to the parent of the same sex. (page 251) -
Lying
Kieran is eight and although he doesn't try cheating at games anymore, he has started telling lies. For example, blaming a mess on his sister. He is still not able to think about moral issues in an abstract way and doesn't fully understand right and wrong yet. -
Puberty
Kieran is 14. He recently started growing some hair on his chin and asked his dad to teach him to shave. He was very proud. Kieran is in the middle of puberty and all the changes that come with it. Puberty in boys usually occurss between the ages of 12 and 18.(pages 356-357) Kieran is fairly self confident, athletic, and well liked by his classmates, which will make adolesence easier. -
Peer Pressure
Kieran came home from a party smelling like marijuana. When his father and I confronted him about it, he looked us in the eye and said he would never get high or try drugs. His main reason is because he's an athlete and doesn't want anything to affect his performance. People tend to develop more autonomy during adolesence. Kieran's growing confidence, along with his ability to make decisions for himself, have allowed him to become less suseptable to peer pressure. (page 424) -
Schoolastic Achievement
Kieran is 17 and took his ACT and SAT recently. He scored in the top 5-10% in all verbal subjects, math, and science. He has always been very smart and has been in advanced classes since elementay school. He's looking forward to college. -
Graduation!
Kieran just turned 18 and has graduated highschool! His dad and I used an authoritative parenting style, with lots of warmth and firm boundaries. Children raised with this parenting style tend to be more independant, friendly, self confident, motivated, cooperative, and emotionally stable. (pages 258-259) Kieran's very close with both of us and is looking forward to the adventures ahead.
