Assignment 9

1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty.

There are some very obvious signs of physical changes with Sky concerning her puberty stage.  For one she isn’t really the taller lengthy girl anymore and is starting to fill out more in the hips and also in other places that I would rather not mention.  Other signs of Sky hitting that incipient stage of puberty is her general mood swings, sometimes for no apparent reason Sky is cranky and moody, another tall tale sign is her new found interest in boys and the comment “I’m too fat” which tells me that her body is simply changing and she doesn’t want to feel as if she is not attractive.  Sky seems to be having the normal signs of the inevitable puberty stage,

 

2. How would you characterize your child at this point in terms of the under-controlled, over-controlled or resilient categories? Have there been any changes since the preschool period and why might they have occurred?

Sky is still a very resilient child, she is coping very well with all the new changes that she is going through at this stage in her life.  She is for the most part able to bounce back from every change that I make her go through, her mother makes her go through, school, and the general stage of puberty.  The only thing that she is having a hard time adjusting too right now is her feelings towards my girlfriend, and her mothers boyfriend.  I believe this to be a very typical emotion for a child her age and will just wait to see how she grows out of it.  For the most part though Sky is a very strong willed child and has been able adjust too anything that is put in front of her and that’s why I placed my child under the resilient categories.  There really hasn’t been any changes that come to mind since Sky’s preschool age.

 

3. Using the 7th grade report card and your own observations, summarize your child’s academic skills at this point. What specific activities might promote some of these skills? 

Well this report card was good and bad, Sky once again received good grades in English, Social Studies, Spanish, Reading, Spelling, and Writing skills.  Sky has always been strong in the above categories but it seems we have back tracked a little in regards to Sky’s math skills.  I truly believe part of the problem with Sky’s math skills is that she always has a bad attitude towards it.  Her last report card showed improvement but then I got this one and am a little disappointed.  Sky received a “C” in math class and we are definitely going to work on her attitude when it comes to math and I already made the decision to enroll her in after school tutoring.  Sky got a “B” in science but Sky enjoys science and I think with a little bit of support she can bring that back up to an “A”.  The only activity I can think of that will help Sky with her math is playing a game like monopoly and teaching her about financing and the aspect of money.  Ultimately she will need more than this to improve her math skills but it’s a start.

Assignment 8

1. Describe your child’s academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how well these skills are developing. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. What are you doing to help your child?

I think I am very fortunate with my virtual child, Sky has done nothing but continuously improve in the academic areas. Sky’s current report card stated strengths in reading, spelling, writing, speaking, and listening.  Sky has also been reported as average in the areas of math, graphical applications, arithmetic computation, art and music.  This makes me extremely happy because Sky has struggled all the time with math, I think it had a lot to do with her attitude as much as the understanding aspect of it.  I think that my strategy has finally paid off with Sky, for example Sky would get frustrated with certain math problems and instead of me just doing the problem for her I would have her refer back to example problems and try to figure it out.  When Sky would become too frustrated that’s when I would step in and assist her.  The process seems to have finally paid off, I cant take all the credit though because Sky is a very intelligent individual and is going to do very well in 6^th grade.

 

2. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?

Sky is a very popular person at school and has a lot of friends, very rarely do we have behavior problems with Sky and when we do she seems to recover very quickly.  On occasion Sky has been known to act out in stressful situations but liked I mentioned earlier seems to come out of it quickly.  I think that it is extremely normal for a child to act out every once in a while, me as a parent haven’t really done much of anything about it because it is not a major issue right now.  If it were to become an issue at any time I would take Sky back to the basics of how to act in public and focus on proper manners and how to control emotions.

 

3. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood.

I don’t feel that my parenting style has changed at all since Sky was in preschool, the only thing that has changed is me and my partner are know longer together.  By me stating that my parenting style hasn’t changed doesn’t mean I haven’t had to adapt to new methods of ensuring my child’s education.  That is the only example I can think of, what I mean by that is since I receive report cards about my child’s learning abilities I am able to see where Sky needs some help, so when I notice Sky is lagging in math I can change my methods on how I begin to get her interested in that particular subject.  The only example from the text that I can think of that involves my parenting ways is Erikson’s theory on Industry VS. inferiority.  The way I changed my parenting style as mentioned above goes along with industry, because I promote a positive learning environment with Sky and work on making her feel confident in skills she is lacking on.  For example as mentioned above with the math problems and according to Sky’s report card she is doing better and too me that proves that Sky is becoming confident and more proficient at math.

 

 

Assignment 7

1.How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child's verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist's report at age 8 years, 11 months.

Just a quick recap on Sky’s scores from age 6 are as follows she shows strengths in reading, writing, speaking, listening, social studies, and science.  Sky is average in math and problem solving, but lacking in spatial and number concepts.  At the age of 8 Sky is doing excellent in vocabulary, Sky is below average in math and for some reason doesn’t have much of an interest in it other than multiplication tables, Sky is still lacking in spatial and I have know idea how to fix that, Sky has recently become excited about music and began playing the flute, and Sky is still very outgoing and active in sports such as cheerleading but we are starting to notice that Sky is more into the social aspect of the sport rather than the athleticism. 

 2. Describe some examples of your child's behavior or thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e.g., cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc.)?

 First of all I think it is important to explain my thoughts on “typical American gender roles”.  I was raised with a very open minded way of thinking.  My parents always promoted that it didn’t matter if you were a man or a women as long as you could do the job as well as the person standing next to you.  I very much believe in this theory however I am a strong believer that it is wrong to hire a person just to fill a quota, for example hire a man as a nurse because you don’t have too many male nurses, or hire a women to be a firefighter because you don’t have enough female employee’s.  If you can do the job then so be it, now when it comes to Sky one example that pops in my head that run along the typical gender roles is, Sky is a cheerleader and as far back as I can remember only women were cheerleaders.  Sky also plays the flute which to me screams feminine.  I thinks Sky does these two things because she feels most accepted by these activities due to gender role socialization.  When you thin cheerleader the first thing that pops in my head is cute popular girls, not buff men.  When I think of the flute I think of a soothing sound which I associate with being a female artist.  One role that Sky has taken that is a little masculine is playing sports with boys and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that either.  I believe whatever makes your child happy is the best thing for them.

 3. How might your child's development have been different if s/he was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures.

 My child’s development would have been way different for example, in German cultures the infants show considerably more avoidant attachment due to the fact that German parents encourage independence and don’t want there kids to be clingy.  That too me sounds insane, I want to be there all the time for my child and want to give my child the sense of trust and the ability to rely on me as the parent.  I know with Sky, she sometimes gets moody when I don’t show her enough attention and she relies on me a lot when she needs help.  If she was brought up in a German culture she would be much different in the above categories.  Another example is Tribal and Village culture, in this culture kids are taught little to know schooling and primarily focus on adult work and conversation.  For one Sky can’t even take care of the chores she is given at home so I think there is obviously a big difference there, another huge difference in her development would have been her education.  Right now Sky is in 3^rd grade and she is already reading at a 5^th and 6^th grade level.  If she had been brought up in a culture where school was not considered a priority, her development would be like night and day.  I believe those are a few drastic examples of how Sky’s development would be different if she was raised by another culture.

Assignment 6

1.     How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home?  Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point?  Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?

 Sky is adapting very well in social situations right now, in the home Sky is becoming helpful and seems to be doing great, the only information I have regarding Sky outside of the home came from her report card and it had nothing but great things to say about Sky.  In school Sky has been working very cooperatively with groups, usually respects rights and property of others, usually demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction, listens attentively and follows directions, and usually follows classroom rules.  Sky seems to be doing ok with emotional issues right now, which is good because me and my partner just split up and Sky seems to be handling the situation just fine.  However Sky has had a few behavior problems that seemed to have popped up out of know where, Sky has been cheating in games lately.  I’m not too sure where she got the idea to cheat.  I think she is still a little too young to understand the morals behind cheating, Sky has know problem when it comes to knowing what is right and wrong. I truly think that Sky got the idea to cheat by simply understanding that a game is played to win and she wants to win, now that she is getting older she is becoming more and more sufficient in figuring things out.  So with that in mind I think she just figured out she can cut some corners in order to win.  Currently I am focusing on explaining to Sky that cheating is not right and if she continues to do it know one will want to participate in games with her.

 2.     Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4?  Give specific examples.  Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do. 

  Sky is becoming more and more efficient in her language abilities, Sky seems to be improving every time I get a progress report regarding her speaking, reading, and writing skills.  For example Sky has been reading a lot of books ever since I can remember, whether it was me reading it too her or her being able to read it herself.  Sky is now in first grade and I made the decision to go ahead and buy her some new books that were above her reading level, and now Sky is reading books at a second grade level.  I am very proud of her, I’m hoping that all the reading she has been doing is going to pay off in the long run.  That is one example of an improvement but unfortunately I have an example of Sky needing some special attention with cognitive learning.  When Sky was 4 I got a progress report stating that Sky’s cognitive skills are lacking in the area of copying designs, solving picture puzzles and building block towers.  Since that report card Sky hasn’t really had much improvement since the report card stated that she required some additional support in the areas of spatial understanding and visual arts, which reflects the problems I stated above.  I am a little confused on how to fix this problem since I have been dealing with it for some time now, but I do have some ideas.  I plan on taking some time to sit down with sky and trying to put some puzzles together, study some picture books with certain designs, and maybe even buy a little doll house that we can put together.  By putting a doll house together it might give sky the basic understanding of looking at something and then trying to make all the pieces fit together in order for it to turn into a doll house.  Those are just some ideas that I have been thinking over but who knows if that will have the desired effect, on a good note though Sky is developmentally appropriate in math now and when she was 4 she wasn’t really up to speed in that category. 

 3.     Which aspects of your child’s behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior and which seem to be novel for this age level?

 Sky has tons of great aspects about her, she is such a fun loveable person that seems to surprise me all the time.  One of Sky’s behavior traits that has been very continuous is how sociable she is.  Sky was a little shy when she was like 2 yrs. old, but grew out of that stage and has continuously been very sociable and liked by many.  This is very good for her age level because she is now at the point where she needs to be sociable and be able to interact with others in an appropriate way, and from the information that I have gathered Sky seems to be right where she needs to be regarding her social skills and seems to be very consistent in this category.  Her social skills also seem to play a big role in her personality, Sky has been considered a leader for quite some time now.  Sky’s personality is awesome sometimes she can be a little brat but that’s to be expected.  When she was younger around 3 years old we started teaching her the difference between right and wrong, with those skills being taught Sky has the basic understanding of how to treat people.  Once again Sky is at that age where she needs to understand the appropriate way to behave when it comes to the rules and how she is to present herself while around others and with that information at hand Sky is doing well for her age when it comes to interacting with others and being able to follow rules at home and in the education setting. 

Assignment 5

1. How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences? 

I would characterize my parenting style in a few words; loveable, reasonable, trustable, and Caring.  I have a few things specific parenting techniques that have changed since Sky was an infant.  One is I have eased up a lot about the germ factor with children, when Sky was younger she was getting sick all the time and I was trying to shelter her a little so she wouldn’t get sick so often but now I am constantly trying to invite Sky’s little friends over for play time.  Another technique is hard to explain, but I just kind of go with the flow now.  I’m not really too stressed out about Sky not being able to build blocks as well as other kids, in the beginning I was very concerned about every below average grade that Sky received, but what I have come to realize is that kids learn at different paces and I have lightened up a little on hammering Sky in certain categories that she is struggling with.  Although I still want her to improve, I just approach it with less urgency.  I truly feel that I am raising Sky just as my parents raised me when I was growing up, I try to provide a loving happy home for Sky and I encourage Sky to have a lot of family time because I feel family is the most important thing in the world.  My cultural background plays part in every decision I make with Sky, I only know the things I know today because of the culture, morals, and ethics I was taught.  Sky is going to be the next generation and I want nothing more than to guide her the proper way through life, that is how cultural background has played its role in my parenting decisions. 

 2. Describe two specific examples of changes in your child’s behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e.g., improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind).

One example of change Sky has encountered is the arrival of her new sister.  Sky has been having behavioral changes off and on since the new baby came, at certain points Sky is more moody, acts like an infant, talks like an infant, and is more testy.  I believe this is Sky’s way of symbolic thinking, Sky sees her little sister cry and immediately one of the parents tends to the babies need’s.  With that in mind Sky has symbolic thinking in effect, what I mean by this is sky associates crying with receiving attention, so in Sky’s mind crying symbolizes the need for attention.  The second change in Sky’s behavior is how she conducts herself while in public places.  Every time we would take Sky out for dinner she would act up in the restaurant, yet now that she is in school her report showed that she was cooperative and understood the rules.  It seems that Sky is getting a better knowledge of the world and how it works, her mind is finally grasping the concept of rules.  By Sky being able to understand rules and why they are in place, shows me that she is getting a better grasp on the knowledge of the world.  

 3. How would you characterize your child’s personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument.

Sky’s personality is pretty awesome, she is extremely talkative and can hold conversations well for the most part.  She helps out a lot with the new baby even though she has her moments of acting out.  She is easy going for the most part and seems to be more sociable now than she was when she was younger.  She isn’t to testy on the rules and for the most part stays out of trouble.  Sky is becoming more independent by the day and loves animals, books, and out door activities.  If I had to call Sky anything it would be resilient because she has a good attitude even when being disciplined, she seems to listen to what you have to say and then makes an effort to correct the problem.  She recovers from the situation and understands that she needs to change the way she is acting, for example when Sky acts out at sit down restaurants I would explain to her what behavior I expected and that she needed to change her attitude right away or we would be leaving, and usually she would change her behavior.  Another example of how resilient Sky is, when we had the new baby and Sky seemed to be acting out, my partner and I would spend more alone time with Sky away from the baby and with that little act Sky seemed to turn around quickly and actually start helping out with the child instead of making a difficulty situation worse by continuing to act out.

Assignment 4

1. What activities and experiences you and your child have engaged in might be promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest in physical activity?

Well Sky seems to be very interested in outdoor activities as well as some indoor activities.  Sky likes to play with a little basketball, throw baseballs, and run around with other neighborhood children, however she seems to get bored with these activities.  Sky  really enjoys riding her tricycle around the block, so whatever activity Sky is more interested in on that particular day, we both try to accompany her and make it more enjoyable for her.  I feel it is very important for Sky to get at least an hour of physical activity a day, in order to keep her healthy and in shape.  I am excited that Sky enjoys outdoor activities.  Sky also enjoys watching educational TV, however she sometimes looses focus.  In order for Sky to get the most out of the educational programs we started recoding the shows and watching them with Sky and trying to get her more involved with the program.  I think that if we keep this strategy up then Sky will gain more interest in the programs.

 

2. Describe development of your child’s language and cognitive skills and discuss how these might be affecting his or her interactions with you & your responses.

Sky has again scored above average on her language skills, which makes my job a lot easier.  Sky seems to respond very well with verbal instructions and is learning very fast.  We are happy that Sky’s language skills are developing well, she is pretty much speaking full sentences and that makes it easier for both myself and Sky, for example when I tell Sky she needs to do something she can understand easier by knowing what I expect.  On the other hand it makes it easier for me because she can use her words and tell me what she needs, for example if she is hungry, tired, or has to go to the bathroom.  Sky’s cognitive skills are a little shaky, she gets smarter and smarter as time goes on but she lacking in the area of copying designs, solving picture puzzles, and building block towers.  This has never been one of Sky’s strong points and we seem to be having some problems in overcoming this situation.  So my plan is to involve more cognitive thinking activities in order to promote Sky’s abilities, also it will help Sky interact with us better when it comes to setting the dinner table or putting away dishes.

 

3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?

Sky is doing very well in social situations and I am very proud of that.  A while ago we were having problems with Sky interaction with new faces, but she has several little friends at school and is becoming a leader when it comes to activities.  I think that the persistency of having Sky adapt to new situations has finally paid off.  Sky is doing well at home for the most part as well, the only problem we have run it too is, Sky is acting more like a baby sometimes and seems to be more moody at times.  I think it is because we now have a new baby in the home and Sky might not know how to deal with the situation yet.  We are just going to continue to support her and I’m sure this is just a phase that will pass with some time.  Also when Sky is acting like a baby we are going to treat her like a baby, maybe that will help stop the behavior.

Assignment 3

1.  There has been three environmental changes that have happened to Sky and two of them have influenced her behavior as of this far.  The first change came when I lost my job and we had to downsize our apartment and move to a rougher part of town.  During this situation Sky became moody and was tougher to deal with.  Secondly Sky has just recently changed her daycare setting from an infant daycare to a toddler day care.  Sky was acting up at daycare in the beginning but after a while Sky seems to have adjusted very well.  The newest environmental change in Sky’s life is her mommy is pregnant again but, we have not told Sky yet.  We are waiting for the correct time to explain to Sky what is going on with mommy.

 2.  Sky is doing very well around the house, Sky is becoming more independent and getting good at following routine events like brushing her teeth.  Sky does still need a little encouragement and reminding for some things like taking a bath and such but, for the most part Sky is doing well.  We have not had too many problems with Sky not listening, I think it is due to the consistency of our rules and constantly enforcing them.  The only problem we are having right now is potty training Sky, I don’t really see it as a problem of not listening too us though.  Sky is lacking a little bit of self control when it comes to potty training issues but, we are going to continue to work on the problem.  Sky is pretty good with children but she does have her moments.  The only time we seem to have an issue with Sky getting along with other children is when her favorite toy is involved or another child tries to take a toy away from her.  I think it is a typical toddler reaction and it will eventually work itself out when Sky understands the meaning of sharing.

 

3.I have noticed that a lot of my parenting decision’s is grouped in with Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory, mainly due to this statement “children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.”  What this means to me is that you have to let your child live their own life, it doesn’t mean you do not have to enforce any rules but you should let them explore on their own and create the world they live in through their own eyes. Piaget also talked about rewards from adults, I have not been rewarding Sky with toys and gifts but with a hug and a pat on the back, so I feel that Piaget’s way of thinking represents parts of my parenting skills.  Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory plays a big part in the way I am trying to raise Sky based on this statement “ in particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society-is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a community’s culture.”  What this theory means to me is, children need to be shown the way when young in order to function appropriately in society.  That is why when Sky throws a fit about a toy I don’t tell her to go hit the other kid who took her toy, instead I talk to her about sharing and being generous.  I think it is very important to raise our children with good morals and ethics because they are the next generation too come.  Lastly Information processing has played a major role in my parenting.  I am a firm believer that you can do anything you put you mind to, but it depends on how you break the information down and secondly how you act on the information.  In the beginning Sky was having a hard time playing hide and seek but as I persisted to play the game with her and she became better because the more times we played the better she could process the information.  The same scenario has recently presented itself with the issue of potty training Sky.  It might take a little while but the more she tries the better she will get at processing the information when her body tells her I have to go to the bathroom and she processes that information and goes potty on the toilet.  That is why I am so consistent with her so she can develop her own information processing techniques. 

Assignment 2

1.     According to Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development Sky is right on track with Piaget’s period of development. Sky is very active in game playing activities and has truly begun to have much better problem solving skills.  During Sky’s period of 8 months we played Hide and Seek with toys, every time I would hide the toy Sky would see were I put it and have know problem finding it, but when I would change the hiding spot Sky could know longer find the toy.  Now Sky is 18 months and is able to find the toy in several different hiding spots.  This relates to the Cognitive skills because she is using her eyes to find the toy, her ears to listen were I’m at in the house when I’m hiding the toy, and her hands to physically pick the toy up.  However Sky still has some improvements to work on when it comes to imitating building blocks.  On the same topic of Problem Solving in regards to Information Processing, Sky is doing well in this area.  I like the statement of “the view of development is one of continuous change”.  Due to this statement I have come to believe that Sky is doing excellent.  Sky is always changing and adapting to her new situations that she’s faced with.  Sky is still a little shy but continuously gaining confidence.  My progress report stated that Sky is below average in problem solving but we are currently working on that.

 

2.     Sky’s activity is great, she is constantly engaging in play time and is very active.  Sky doesn’t seem to sleep more than average in my opinion.  I’m happy with her activity because it also doesn’t feel as if she is too active and placing stress on us (parents).  Sky’s Sociability is still a little slow to warm up at 19 months.  Sky just takes a little while to feel comfortable around new people but once she is placed in that setting she eventually warms up.  We have been given the advice to keep taking Sky to playgroups in order to work on her sociability.  Emotionality of Sky is fairly easy at this point.  Sky is pretty easy going and doesn’t seem to throw too many fits.  When Sky was observed, the observant thought Sky was very happy and content.  Aggressiveness VS. Cooperativeness of Sky.  Sky always seems to be cheerful for the most part and doesn’t seem to be highly aggressive.  The only time Sky has really become aggressive is when another child try’s to take away a toy from her, which I find to be generally common while in this age group.  Self Control of Sky has not really been tested as of this far.  We have had a few situations that needed discipline but overall Sky seems to have good self control.  Sky’s temperament has been constant up until 18 months.  We have not had to make any drastic changes in the way we discipline Sky other than being sticklers on rules.  Goodness of fit is a great way for parents to understand how to approach changes in the child’s life.  The best example I can give is the way Sky is very slow to warm up, in the beginning Sky would cry if someone other than us would hold her.  So in order to change Sky’s reaction to these situations we have held her and introduced her to the new person until she feels comfortable enough to be held.  She is now beginning to warm up faster than before so as you can see the Goodness of Fit is working in this particular situation.

 

3.     I was not really surprised when I read the examiners report.  I felt that Sky’s development for the most part was close to the examiners findings.  The one part of Sky’s development that has constantly needed work and was mentioned in the report is Sky’s attachment issues.  From day one Sky has been extremely attached to mom but with some work we balanced out the attachment to be more equally shared by both of us.  Now we are running in to the problem of Sky not being as social as we would like because of her attachment issues.  So we are going to continue to take sky to play grounds and activities involving other children to try to get her attachment issue less of a problem.

 

Assignment 1

1. How does your baby’s eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typical developmental patterns?

Well Sky is still having a lot of diarrhea and we are working on trying to supplement in different types of food in order for her to be able to digest better and not get sick all the time from the food that she is eating currently.  Sky also has gotten a cold a few times so are focus is also to keep her away from sick people or do the best we can.  Sky is a fairly good sleeper for the most part the only problem were having right now is when we lay her down to go to sleep sometimes she cries for a while but other than that its not too bad.  Well Sky has good motor development for her age right now, she is crawling, sitting up, and standing but she hasn't yet figured out how to walk. Sky is pretty much right on track as far the "typical development pattern" is concerned

2. At 8 months of age was your child an “easy”, “slow-to-warm-up”, or “difficult” baby in terms of Thomas and Chess’s classic temperamental categories? On what do you base this judgement?

Sky is slow to warm up right now but i know we can change that.  She does pretty well for the most part but Sky is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people and to new interesting activities and then begins to vocalize a lot and makes eye contact.  I think that the more social activities that we can put Sky in, will benefit her in the future.

3. How is your child’s attachment to you and your partner developing? What is happening at the 3-month and 8-month periods that might affect attachment security according to Bowlby and Ainsworth, and various research studies?

She is still pretty attached to mom but after a little while longer it will be okay, i guess that is to be expected though.   Right now I am working on spending a little more time with her so she isn't always dependent on her mother. I do not want to spend so much time with her though that she feels abandoned by her mother.  We are also still trying to get her to be comfortable when she is in a new setting but sometimes its a little rough.  When Sky is upset she generally likes to be comforted by her mother but when mom isn't around i do my best and sometimes she rejects my attempt. I think that Sky will be fine with her attachment and security issues.  We are not shunning her away from the outside world because we want her to be very social and fun.  Security of her parents is important and we will continue to make her feel safe and loved.

Sky

I just had a baby girl who's name is sky, We had a normal delivery and both the baby and mother are doing fine.  Well Sky is being breast fed and we are introducing formula as well, that way when we want to stop breast feeding it wont be such a shock for the little one.  I also chose to go with disposable diapers because I don't really feel like cleaning the cloth diapers.  Well I am sure there is much to come in the upcoming weeks.  Talk to you soon....