Being born into a nuclear family, I lived with my mother, father and younger brother. We were a very close family and lived on a farm with my grandfather and grandmother. My mother and father weren’t able to be at home with me during the early years of my life as they had to work. This meant that my grandmother and grandfather had a massive influence on the development during infancy. My grandmother was constantly speaking to me, telling me stories and interacting with me from birth. I believe this had a large influence on my language development as I began expressing myself through the use of babbling at 6 months old (Berk 2012). By the age of 13 months old I said my first word and my receptive language began to develop as I understood simple requests such as “tah” and “give me” (Berk 2012). By the age of 5 months old I began to develop the ability to roll onto my back as well as my stomach. By the age of 8 months my physical development continued to form as I was able to sit up independently and move myself up onto my hands and knees (Berk 2012). At 11 months old I was able to pull myself up using different objects such as the coffee table and lower myself back down again without falling over. By the time I was 13 months old, I took my first step (Berk 2012). I believe that my physical development was positively effected due to the environment I grew up in. As I was constantly being stimulated I always had the desire to explore my surroundings, which assisted with every aspect of my development including my fine motor development (Berk 2012). From within the first three months of my life I began loosely opening and closing my hands and by the age of 6-9 months old I was able to reach and pick up blocks. My fine motor skills continued to develop at a rapid pace and at 10 months old I was able to bang two toys together in the air as well as take toys out of my toy box (Berk 2012). During the first year of my life I believe that my grandmother had a large influence on my social-emotional development as she always attend to my needs, interacted with me in a positive manner and offered sympathetic and loving care (Berk 2012). This comfortable and loving relationship gave me the confidence to explore the world around me and prepared me for the challenges of toddlerhood. This developmental aspect links with Erik Erikson’s theory of basic trust versus mistrust (Berk 2012). This theory states that when infants experience sympathetic and loving relationships their social-emotional development is positively effected as they developed the confidence to explore their surroundings and feel comfortable and confident within themselves (Berk 2012). During the second year of my life, my social and emotional development was greatly influenced through the birth of my younger brother, Shannon. After his arrival I was very interactive with him and loved showing him things such as my toys as well as showing him affection. My parents and grandparent included me in everything we did with my new baby brother including his nappy change and during feeding times. They also ensured that I had special time alone with them doing different things I enjoyed such as playing outside and looking at the farm animals. This assisted with the development of my strong attachment to my family and allowed me to still feel special during a large transition within my early childhood (Berk 2012). This situation greatly effected my social-emotional development and allowed me to feel confident in the beginning stages of the relationship I was developing with my sibling (Berk 2012). |