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My Conception
The process by which conception occurs was initiated. At that moment I was nothing more than a gamete; my journey took me two to three days to finally reach the ova at which point conception happened and the germinal period began. Now all that was left was to make it to the lining of the uterus and implant myself; failure to do so could have resulted in being disposed of during the next menstruation.This developmental period lasted about two weeks.
(Image obtained from Quizlet) -
My Embryonic Period
My development continued as normal and as my cells continued to divide I started to get a tight "C" shape look. As the weeks went by I began to develop distinguishable human body parts and organs such as my brain and heart and fingers and toes. This was a crucial time for me as far as my health went; if my mother hadn't taken care of herself it would have affected myself as well in any number of negative ways before and after I was born.
(Image obtained from Lumen Learning) -
My Fetal Period
At this point my body was completely formed with the exception of some organs that still needed additional development such as my lungs, eyes, and ears. What my parents thought were just random "kicks" and movement in the womb was actually just me trying to strengthen and promote good growth for my muscles and bones. The final three months of my fetal development consisted mostly of preparation for birth.
(Image obtained from WebMD) -
My Birth
The last three months out of nine prepared me for delivery. One of the most important things my body produced was a layer of fat in an effort to control my temperature once I was out. My mother was taken to the hospital where after her initial contractions began, I passed through cervix two hours later and was given a quick assessment of my reflexes, heart and breathing condition, and anything else that could have been potentially troublesome in the future.
(Image obtained from Alexander Street) -
My Psychosocial Development
Trust was something that I had in both my parents as shown in the picture. It helped that my parents were prepared and were able to attend to my needs, though, I had a stronger bond and connection with my mother since she was more kind and patient than my father. By allowing my curious nature to take over in controlled settings I was allowed to cultivate my independence. I can say that this gave a boost to my confidence and self esteem in continuing to pursue things that interested me. -
My Language Development
Spanish was my first language. I remember having difficulty learning English since the syntax and phonetics are different from Spanish, but I can say that both the Broca and Wernicke area of my brain developed without issue and I was eventually able to master both languages. As an infant my speech was different. I would babble or gesture signaling that I wanted more food (see picture) and after enough practice and reinforcement from my parents I went from holophrasic to telegraphic speech. -
My Cognitive Development
At this time in my life my cognitive development was mostly my sensorimotor intelligence. I learned through my senses and interaction with my surroundings. Playing with blocks was by far my favorite activity. It is only now that I realize that building blocks were used to improve my larger motor skills. Getting closer to the age of two, sorting shapes into the correct slots was a puzzle game for me, but it helped with my mental growth in problem solving. -
My Physical Development
My physical development was very normal and healthy. I got all the right calories, proteins, and nutrients needed to grow. As seen in my uploaded picture as an infant I was very small and couldn't see very well at all. Fast forward a little over two and a half years later and I got quite a growth spurt. At this point I was well able to plan activities to do at the beach, use both gross and fine motor skills to build a sand castle and use all my senses in accomplishing different tasks. -
Early Childhood Psychosocial Development
During this stage of development I began to take initiative in doing the things I wanted. Pillow and blanket forts were my favorite to build in my room. Self identification started to bud in my young mind. I started becoming more conscious of how others viewed me and what it meant to be a boy. When I was with friends we used to have competitions to see who could swing the highest or other silly competitions that we used to try to prove something. What we were proving I have no idea. -
Early Childhood Cognitive Development
During my preoperational stage I began to engage in dramatic playing also known as pretending. My younger brother and I did a lot of it as shown in the picture. During this stage gauging time was very difficult for me. When my mother told me I could go to my best friend's house for an hour I thought I hit the jackpot. I only realized at an older age that one hour is not sufficient for anything. The use of my large motor skills came in handy when playing games like hide and seek or soccer. -
Early Childhood Language Development
From 200 words to over 10,000 my vocabulary grew dramatically though learning to master grammatical correctness and even sometimes words and phrases was a process. In all honesty, I was able to say more words than I understood. Common phrases like "knock on wood" made me question a person's sanity when there was no wood around to knock on in the first place. Scaffolding made it possible to explain to my mother in the attached picture how miserable it was to be in such cold temperatures. -
Early Childhood Physical Development
During this time in my life I continued to grow though not nearly as quickly as the first few years of my life. My brain underwent further development growing to almost 95 percent of its adult weight at this age aiding in the regulation of my emotions as well as my ability to learn rules to games and think steps ahead to perform better. In my household both my parents cooked and prepared meals as often as they could; I was never a picky eater so proper nutrients weren't something that I lacked. -
My Middle Childhood Psychosocial Development
My self concept started to change during this time; I wanted to be the comedic guy of my friend group because that's what I thought I was best at. At times I felt inferior to the popular kids because they would make jokes the whole class and even the teacher laughed at. My best friend happened to be one of those kids but I didn't care as much because we had fun together and got in trouble together. My parents were the authoritative type, but I always felt they had my best interests in mind. -
My Middle Childhood Cognitive Development
I was able to start switching gears from a preoperational to a concrete operational way of thinking. At this point I was able to perform tasks that required a reverse way of thinking, meaning that I could think and follow steps backwards and forwards, and decentering, referring to being able to focus in on two levels of thinking at once. These skills were tested in the classroom a lot. During this age I began to understand many different principles regarding real world things and vocabulary. -
My Middle Childhood Physical Development
From ages six to eleven I continued to grow normally though all my friends always managed to stay taller than me. I am twenty-three years old now, but I still have the same sized brain as seven-year-old me. I was a very active kid and sports and P.E. fascinated me which I think helped me keep a fit form throughout my school days. I never really noticed or thought about my muscle growth or lung capacity, but it was obvious when we did push-up competitions or races. -
My Middle Childhood Language Development
It was at this time that I started to really progress with both English and Spanish the most. I grew up speaking Spanish, but I didn't know how to read or write it and speaking English came slowly during my preschool years, but my ability to understand more of it by speaking, reading, and writing escalated during my middle childhood years. I was able to classify words in more than one way and my vocabulary grew every day by not just hearing words but connecting them with other words I knew. -
My Adolescent Emotional Development
I never knew how much of an emotional roller coaster adolescence would be. I was raised to have certain standards and hold others to them, so when my friends began to deviate from those I distanced myself. Though I was socially awkward and shy I gained a group of friends I could rely on. For the first time around the age of 17 I became romantically attached to one of my best friends. The relationship had it's ups and downs. The downs were mostly due to my depression at the time. -
My Adolescent Cognitive Development
My cognitive development at this stage involved being able to create mental situations and possible solutions.School obviously trained those skills the most as we began to be given assignments that required us to think of hypothetical situations to write about or discuss.
As someone who experienced loneliness I empathy towards those who looked lonely or were picked on by the crowds were the people I tried to talk to and hang out with the most.
I am on the very right of the photo. -
My Adolescent Psychosocial Development
At this stage in my life it felt that my mother would constantly nag me about what kind of future I was working toward. I very much had an identity crisis during this time. I felt that I wasn't particularly good at anything, but rather average in everything. Hanging out with my friends who "got me" took priority over anything else. It was within this group of friends that I would meet my future wife. I don't regret spending more time with her than with my family. -
My Adolescent Physical Development
When puberty began I was oblivious to some of the changes that were occurring in my body. I never noticed when I hit my growth spurt because my friends always managed to stay a lot taller than me. I will always remember my uncle constantly making jokes about my voice even though I was unaware that my voice was getting deeper. Overall, my physical development was just something that I had always ignored.
I am on the very right of the photo.
