Observation Two: Emotional Development Student Name Texas Woma ✓ Solved

Observation Two: Emotional Development. Isabella is a 23 month old girl that is about to turn 24 months in a week. The observation starts at around six in the morning. Isabella and her sister arrive at their grandmother’s house, where they are dropped off every weekday by their dad before he goes to work. Her father tells them goodbye and to behave for grandma. He hands them their donut holes, which he seems to buy them every morning before he drops them off. He kisses their head, turns around, and leaves. Isabella does not cry or make a fuss. She simply looks tired. The cause of her reaction could be due to drowsiness from being awake so early, or it could be due to the preparation they have before the separation. According to Fogel, preparation for a departure includes explaining that the caregiver will leave now and what they should do while they are away (Fogel, 2015). Although this is pretty much routine for the father and Isabella by now, he always instructs her to “be good,” and tells them goodbye and that he is leaving now. In this way, Isabella’s father prepares her for the upcoming separation they must go through constantly, which helps ease the departure. The girls are put to sleep soon after arriving. They sleep for about another 3 hours and then wake up around 9:30 a.m.

One of Isabella’s uncles asks her grandmother for pancakes, so they all go to the kitchen. While her grandmother is making pancakes, Isabella and her sister begin playing pretend that they are also making pancakes themselves. It seems like her older sister is the primary chef with Isabella mimicking her every move. Isabella is fed the imaginary pancakes. She pretends to eat them but then proceeds to spit the imaginary food out. She tells her older sister that they are “nasty” and doesn’t want them. This situation correlates with research that has stated that by the 24th month of age, infants will engage in pretend play where they say to have certain kinds of emotions, in this case, disgust (Fogel, 2015). Symbolic play greatly increases the likelihood of infants talking about their emotions, something necessary for the infant’s emotional development. It seems like Isabella is up to par with this facet of emotional development.

After the girls have eaten, they are sent off to go play. While playing, Isabella grabs one of her sister’s dolls, and when the doll’s arm comes off, Isabella goes up to her sister, shows her the problem, and tells her “Oh no! I broke it.” Isabella’s sister goes and tells on her to her grandmother. Isabella’s grandmother lightly scolds her and tells her not to do that again. Isabella avoids eye contact while her grandmother is talking to her. She tells her grandmother she is sorry but is still looking away. It seems like, in this situation, Isabella is experiencing embarrassment or shame over breaking the doll. This self-conscious emotion, according to Fogel, is one that tends to happen around the child’s second birthday (2015). Seeing that Isabella is about to be two years old next week, it seems like Isabella is on track for developing emotionally.

While the girls continue to play with their toys, Isabella sees another toy that she wants. The only problem is that her sister has it first. Isabella starts to whine that she wants the toy, but her sister refuses to give it to her and instead puts it on a high shelf where Isabella cannot reach it. Isabella starts to make a whole fuss, causing her grandmother to enter the room. Once their grandmother realizes the situation, she proceeds to give the toy to Isabella and tells her older sister to be nice and share. This example illustrates how Isabella deals with stress at this age. It is to note that instead of trying to solve the problem of not being able to reach the toy, Isabella just starts to cry out. These kinds of children are said to be more distressed and unable to implement self-comforting strategies (Fogel, 2015). It is also worthy to note that when Isabella’s grandmother came, she solved the problem for her instead of letting her solve it for herself. This kind of behavior may be the very cause of why Isabella has not acquired the proper coping skills (Fogel, 2015). It is safe to say that this aspect is one that Isabella and her caregivers need to pay more attention to.

After acquiring her toy, Isabella plays with it for a while and decides that it is a little boring. She puts it on the table and then quickly swipes her hand across, causing the toy to fall on the floor with a big commotion. Isabella laughs by herself and proceeds to do this over and over again, laughing every time. This laughter shows the shift in development that Isabella has made over the year. During the first year of life, infants seem to laugh when initiated by the mother’s own laughter or smile. Nevertheless, by the second year, infants are able to initiate laughter by themselves (Fogel, 2015). In this case, Isabella’s laughter probably means that causing the toy to drop is so much more fun than actually playing with the toy like it is intended to be played with. It seems like Isabella is well off in this aspect of emotional development. Overall, Isabella seems to be developing well enough emotionally. Although she may be considered behind on self-soothing strategies, she is still able to play out her emotions, even the imaginary ones, and is able to initiate emotional responses, such as laughter, by herself. I would say that Isabella will end up developing emotionally well as long as her parents and grandmother focus on helping her develop self-comforting strategies and stop solving all her problems for her.

References

• Fogel, A. (2015). Infant development: A topical approach (2nd ed.). Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Sloan Publishing.