Observation report on infant (0-30 months)

Running head: OBSERVATION TWO 1

Observation Two: Emotional Development

Student Name

Texas Woman’s University

OBSERVATION TWO 2

  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

OBSERVATION TWO 3

  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, 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 and 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

OBSERVATION TWO 4

  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 for 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 laughter seems to be 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 toy like it is intended to

be played with. It seems like Isabella seems to be 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.

OBSERVATION TWO 5

  Reference

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

Sloan Publishing.

OBSERVATION TWO 6

  Observation Notes

• Isabella (Bella) is 23 months old girl. She is about to be 24 months in a week.

• It is 6 a.m. in the morning. Isabella and her sister are dropped off at their grandmother’s

house by their father.

• Their dad tells the goodbye and to behave. He gives them their donut holes that he

bought them for breakfast and then leaves.

• Their grandmother takes them to bed, where they fall asleep for another 3 hours.

• It is around 9:30 a.m. The girls are awake.

• One of the girls’ uncles asks for pancakes.

• While their grandmother makes pancakes, Isabella and her sister take out some pans from

the cupboards and pretend they are making pancakes themselves.

• Isabella’s older sister is the one in charge.

• Isabella mimics whatever her sister does.

• Isabella pretends to eat the imaginary pancakes.

• She pretends that they are no good and spits them out.

• She tells her sister that they are nasty.

• She soon gets up and tells her grandmother, “I soo hungry!”

• Her grandmother gives her pancakes. She insists that she can feed herself and does so

and ends up making a lot of mess.

• Isabella and her sister are cleaned up after which they decide to go play.

• Isabella is playing with one of her sister’s dolls when an arm comes off the doll.

• She goes up to her sister tells her “Oh no! I broke it.”

• Isabella’s sister tells her grandmother what Isabella has done.

OBSERVATION TWO 7

  • Isabella’s grandmother tells her not to break toys anymore. Isabella looks away.

• The girls continue to play. Isabella decides she wants a toy her sister has.

• Isabella starts whining that she wants the toy. Her sister yells at her that it is her toy.

• Isabella begins to start trying to grab for the toy. So her sister puts it on a shelf that is too

high for Isabella to reach.

• Isabella starts to cry and whine for the toy.

• Isabella’s grandmother appears and asks what is going on.

• Isabella’s grandmother gives Isabella the toy and scolds her older sister for not sharing.

• Isabella plays with her toy and proceeds to knock it down from the couch.

• She laughs in enjoyment.

• She proceeds to do this over and over again.

• Isabella’s mother comes and picks the girls up.

• Observation has ended.