unuboldm19ahs-blog

[unuboldm19ahs-blog]

Blog #5: Parenting Reflection

And thus, it’s finally over. Safe to say, this project was exhausting yet rewarding at the same time. I wouldn’t do it again though. In the beginning I was sure I would just treat this like another school project and just get it over with, but somewhere along the way I got somewhat attached to the bag of flour I carried around everyday.

People say I’m good with children and babies because I can calm them down when they’re crying or just get along with them and make them smile and laugh. I guess that’s not all there is to being a parent. Feeding, sleeping, changing diapers, dealing with baby emotions, fatigue, etc. All these things are so overwhelming for a new parent, and having to balance them with schoolwork was exhausting. Now I know how much of a hassle I was as a baby, and this baby was half my weight when I was born. I definitely owe a lot to my parents for how they raised me and took care of me as a child.

Raising this flour baby felt as if I had a lifeless baby with me. No talking, crying, yelling, or laughing, but I still had some responsibilities. Although there weren’t any emergencies with number 1 and 2 involved, I felt the pressure of making sure the baby was in good health and safe.

Being a teen mom/dad would definitely be a challenge. Most would be either in high school or college, and having to choose whether to balance the baby with school and jobs or to leave school or the baby is probably one of the toughest decisions. It’s the baby’s life versus the parent’s, and eventually a decision has to be made.

#staystrapped #trojangang #rubbersonly

[unuboldm19ahs-blog]

Blog #4: Preschool Years

So, baby Sunny is finally four. She’s gotten past the “Terrible Twos” and is finally about to head into preschool. I can't believe how much she’s grown; it’s as if she was born only a few days ago!

Sunny has been able to be more independent, which isn’t much considering she’s only four, but she can now dress herself and eat without making a mess. However, she has had trouble falling asleep due to the monsters under the bed. We figured a night light would work, so we let her pick a Disney Princess light.

Sunny is also able to decide things for herself and form her own opinions, which gets in the way of our parenting a lot now. She throws fits when she doesn't get what she wants, and usually will act out in a way that calls for some authoritative parenting, which is how we parent. Either a countdown or warning about what could happen will usually do the trick, but sometimes a stern talk about what she did wrong and to not do it again will deter her from behaving that way again. But you can never tell with a little child just how well they’ll remember what to do.

One time, Sunny decided she would let her anger out by throwing her pillow, which flew from her hands into a flower vase, knocking it down and shattering it. We decided to punish Sunny with a timeout in the corner, holding the pillow above her head. This way, she is not physically punished, but instead deals with a mild consequence of misbehaving. Successful Parenting Today states that a con of timeouts can be that the child will resist greatly, and sure enough, Sunny will resist almost all the time. We have to talk to her and tell her why she is being punished for her to finally understand her misdeed.

Update: We have found that Sunny is making more friends at preschool, and that she’s developing more social skills and being cooperative with her classmates. This is one pro of authoritative parenting, as Parenting for Brain states.

They grow up so fast!

[unuboldm19ahs-blog]

Blog #3: Toddler Years

Happy 2nd birthday Sunny!

She’s getting to be quite a handful lately, and I think I finally understand the saying “Terrible Twos”. She is much MUCH more active now, so it was really good that I baby proofed the house. This included softening corners and edges of the table, desks, drawers, etc. I also covered electrical outlets with spring-loaded outlets that prevent her from poking the outlet with anything. We have put up baby gates around the kitchen so she can't go near the oven or sharp knives. According to Gever Tulley and his TedTalk on dangerous things a baby should do, however, I think some minor dangerous things would be harmless for Sunny to do, like falling or tripping. As she grows up, the world will be much more dangerous and she won't always have her parents with her, so she has to learn to fend for herself, and it starts with small things like stumbling or eating hot food too soon. Learning through mistakes is a good way for babies to learn.

Sunny yells a lot and throws tantrums when she isn't understood or doesn't get what she wants. We’ve noticed that Sunny has been social, but instead of interacting with other babies, she minds her own business while being near them. This is called “parallel playing”, and according to Healthline, is beneficial for my toddler because although she is on her own, she is picking up on her environment and listening to what others say and seeing what they do. Additionally, she is developing her gross motor skills and her creativity, as playing is highly imaginative and she has all the freedom to think of how to play.

Sunny has been imitating what we do around the house, including washing dishes and other chores. We bought her a mini toy vacuum, and she picked it up and started vacuuming! However, she will need to learn to go to the bathroom when she does her business. We’ve taken to potty training her, and hope she’ll be out of diapers by next year.

Sunny has also developed her speech and language greatly. Communicating with her and reading to her have helped a lot. She can string multiple words together now, and even form short sentences with a subject and verb.

I have been showing Sunny movies and music on the TV, limiting it to simple things like nursery rhymes and baby shows. She is almost entranced when she watches but is able to switch her attention to something else once she is bored with it.

Sunny is now developing her egocentric point of view, meaning that she believes her view of the world is shared by everyone around her. She thinks that if she can't see us, we can't see her, leading to long periods of waiting for her open her eyes.

[unuboldm19ahs-blog]

BLOG #2: INFANCY

The first year of Sunny’s life has been very much like a rollercoaster; with lots of ups and downs, she is now almost 2. She is almost done with her Sensorimotor stage, according to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. This means Sunny is now aware of her environment and surroundings and has new schemas that she can combine with new sensations, such as sucking her thumb or other activities that make her feel good. She is also aware of basic cause and effect, and purposefully does things to achieve a desired result. One example is that she raises her arms up towards me or the mother when she wants to be picked up. However, around 9 months in she started standing up on her own, and a week later she was walking by herself! Sunny has also started teething, which first began around 5 months into her life.

Sunny began “experimenting” with new behaviors when she was just a little over a year old, such as walking faster or squatting. These new actions showed her what would happen if she did them, and resulted in different actions.

Sunny has been developing and growing very well, but there seems to be a problem with her speech. Although she is almost two, she still only says a few words like “dada” and “dog”, but often omits the sound of the first letter. She also points to things she wants instead of speaking. According to KidsHealth, oral impairments, oral-motor impairments, hearing problems, or ear infections can affect an infant’s speech and language development.

Additionally, we decided to see if we needed an evaluation by seeing how Sunny was doing with her speech. Parents.com stated that “ You may want to seek help if by 24 to 30 months, your child has yet to speak in two-word phrases (like ‘more cookie’.)”.

We decided to get an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist, who evaluated Sunny’s speech and language skills within the context of total development. She assessed what Sunny understands, says, how she attempts communicate if not verbally, and her oral-motor status. She told us that Sunny was fine and did not need speech therapy, which is the treatment for delayed speech and language. Sunny just needs some more stimulation in the areas of her brain that produce speech and language.

We decided more communication with Sunny, such as reading and talking (even if it is difficult to understand since they’re young) would help her develop her speech and language steadily. We avoided baby language, but kept conversations simple, with questions about what something is or what she’s doing.

[unuboldm19ahs-blog]

Blog #1: Pregnancy

My name is Unubold, and I am expecting a baby girl. I have decided to name the girl Sunny because I believe she will bring light and joy into my life. This is my biological child.

During the first trimester, I made sure the mother ate plenty of healthy foods and was well hydrated. We did not drink alcohol at all during the pregnancy and strayed from junk foods, avoiding teratogens. I cooked meals for the mother and we exercised together since staying in shape is important even when one is pregnant. Yoga, meditation, and walking were all activities we did daily.

Our baby will be raised in a dual parent household, in which, according to The Bump, there are often higher standards of living, therefore providing more effective parenting skills with less stressful life circumstances. Additionally, there will be less financial hardships as we will both be working while raising the child. The baby will be less likely to experience a cognitive, emotional or social problems.

So far, the baby has passed through the first two trimesters and is currently nearing the end of the third. We found out the gender of the baby in the second trimester, around 18 weeks. 6 months in, the baby finished developing her internal organs and could hear and respond to auditory stimuli. Since then, we have been playing music and reading stories in hopes she’ll come out an intellectual. Now that the baby is in the third trimester, his physical development has slowed, but his brain is still growing, so we are reading her more stories and “talking to her”. Some difficulties have come our way. During the first trimester, my girlfriend experienced nausea and sickness, resulting from certain food aromas. She also got tired easily so we could not exercise for long without taking a break.

This experience has definitely been a lot to take in and very tiring, but it’s all paying off to finally getting to see our baby Sunny.