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Observation I (0-2)

Yohana Mangiafico

Child Development Houston Community College

TECA 1354: Child Growth and Development

Linda Jones

February 12, 2022

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Observation I

It has been two years since Jack was born in a family of five; being a family friend and a

neighbor at the same time has given me the opportunity and ample time to interact with Jack and

his family on many occasions. A week or two do not pass without facing any physical interaction,

and maybe I am there to pass a newspaper to his dad or else chilling with his older siblings,

watching football, playing video games, and at some point, having a house party together. Through

these activities, factual observations of baby Jack such as his daily life, diet and nutrition, physical

activities around the house, health, and safety have been possible.

Both Jacks’ parents commute every day to work where his dad, who is a degree holder in

engineering, is a managing director of a bottle manufacturing company, and his mother is a nurse

in the nearby community hospital. This makes it hard for jack to accompany his parents to the

places of work. Instead of leaving him with the other older siblings, which are school-going kids,

her mother decided to take him to a good daycare at the age of ten months; this only happens

during the weekdays. But on weekends, all the family members reside in their five-bedroom

palatial home. In summers, the family usually visits their grandmother, who lives alone in the east

coast of California.

It was easy to choose jack as a case study due to the following reasons. Firstly, as a

neighbor, it was simple to connect with his family given the fact that my family shares the history

of a long friendship. Secondly, jack was the only toddler around at that time in the neighborhood;

other children were more than two years old.

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Physical development

Toddlers happen to be natural and more curious to perform different activities, where

getting these physical activities for them is not as hard for them, they spend a lot of their wake

time playing with every gadget that comes on their way this in one way or the other help toddler

in developing motor skills which is the case for the jack.

These motor skills are divided into two. First, fine motor skills involve movement of the

smaller muscle group in jack’s hands, fingers, and wrist. At the age of two months, jack was

holding able to hold a rattle when it was placed in his hand; seven months later, he could have one

block in two hands and shake a rattle; he also displayed the pincer grasp. Secondly, gross motor

skills which involve movements of larger muscle groups, like the arms and legs. These more

considerable skills help the child to sit up, turn over, crawl, and walk. At the age of nine months,

jack sat with a little bit of help from his older siblings while leaning on the hands, he also used to

slide on his tummy to explore, and after three weeks, he was able to crawl. At the age of one year,

jack would pull himself up to stand, and with coordination, he would make a few tentative steps

as long there was something to hold on like a coffee table.

As a mother and a nurse, jack’s mum provided a balanced diet with a wide range of

nutritious food. Further, she ensured regular wellness visits to the clinic in the development

milestone to keep track of his growth and provide proper immunizations against tuberculosis

illnesses. At the age of eighteen months, jack was taken to hospital for developmental problem

checks for autism.

In general, it takes care and love of the family to raise a toddler to learn essential concepts like

numbers and skills such as crawling, walking, and many more.

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References

Mironcika, S. de Schipper & Schouten, B. (2018, March). Smart toys design opportunities for

measuring children’s fine motor skills development.

Meer, R. Boateng, Norris & Kagura, J. (2022, January). Incidence and correlates of high blood

pressure from childhood to adulthood: the Birth to Twenty study.