today

austin tried to lift his head up to sit up.  He also smiles more now.  He seems to recognize faces. 

week 4 day 1

i realize that children are still trying to figure out language rules.  I think they just use the same rules for everything.  Luke was hopping while putting his legs together then apart.  He was saying "together" and "Tapart!"  He did this several times because he thought both words started with a t because of together, even if we kept saying "apart".  

Week 3 Day 3

Today Grayson was playing peekaboo with Holly.  He enjoys eating orange vegetables, and dislikes green ones.  Charlie takes short naps, but today she was able to fall back asleep in my arms.  Jacob woke up from his nap happier than yesterday. after his nap he went onto the amt and found some pillows to lay down on for about 5 minutes.  He likes to rest after his naps.  Henry slept for almost three hours.  

Week 3 Day 2

Jacob came out of the nap room acting differently than he normally does.  He didn't wave hi to me and ate very little snack.  After snack, normally he helps me put his shoes and pants on, but I had to do everything for him.  Later I noticed he kept putting his fingers in his mouth, and all the toys he was playing with.  I realized that his teeth were growing in.  We gave him a teether and he started chewing on it, but his mother came to pick him up and said no.  I think she though it was for comfort reasons like a security blanket which she did not want him to get attached to, but really we were just trying to sooth his gums.  I think this is a perfect example of the difference in the way we see the medical model.  In American group care we relieve the symptom, while the parent wants the child mind to be sound with no attachments to objects.  

Week 3 Day 1

Week 3 Day 1

Friday I got to open.  The kids come around 8am, where all the kids have breakfast together in one room.   At 8:30 they come into room 1.  Grayson, Henry, Jacob and Elizabeth missed breakfast and came with their parents at 9.  Grayson leaves his parents with no problem, Henry has to play with his dad for a few minutes, then his father can leave, and Jacob walked outside without his mom.  Elizabeth on the other hand won't leave her mother's side. 

Today, Elizabeth left with her mom at 10am.  Grayson got a haircut.  He was also making new facial expressions, and seemed to cry more today.  He was more confident with his balance trying to get himself to stand up alone but fell in his attempt.  When he found the garden hose he tried to play with it.  When he realized he could move it, he shook it.  Seeing that part move made him realize the rest of the hose that was connected would move also.  He played with this for about 5 minutes.  Jacob waves when he first sees me.  He doesn't like blueberries, but Henry loves them.  

Bubbles

I noticed that bubbles are what kids are completely enamored with at this age.  A movie called knocked up put it simply,  "kids go apeshit for bubbles."  Jacob knows how to blow bubbles out of a wand.  He completely understands the concept of how bubbles work.  When the wand did not fit in the hole to reach the soap he turned the stick over to try to fit the smaller circle into the soap hole.  Henry on the other hand thinks that putting the stick to your mouth will produce bubbles.  He doesn't know that their needs to be soap or that you must blow.  He even put the bottle to his lips thinking a bubble would come out.  Our girl Charlie was not interested in the bubbles.  

Week 2 Day 3

Today I came when Henry and Jacob were waking up from their nap.  For an afternoon snack they had juice, graham crackers, and banana.  AFter nap the children are usually wet and need a diaper change.  Henry was crying the whole time he was being changed.  He only stopped crying at the table when he was told to take deep breaths.  Grayson tries desperately to act like the big boys.  He can stand up with one hand holding on.  He went to the table when the older boys were eating snack and was copying their actions.  He also followed when the bigger boys were being changed.  Children this age seem to be mesmerized by leafblowers and lawnmowers.  Jacob was spraying water today, then putting his hands in it.  Henry plays by himself and loves the sandbox.  

forgot to mention

children love to talk about two topics: their moms and dads and their shoes.  

Week 2 Day 2

I came in at 12:30.  The older kids had just gone down for a nap.  Grayson and Austin were playing with the toys.  Austin was laying on his back and rolled over halfway, but went back to laying on his back.  He likes watching me move my mouth, and when I blow air softly into his face.  Charlie's first day was today.  She is a fifteen month old.  Henry woke from his nap crying which woke Austin up when he was sleeping on the rocking chair.  Austin always falls asleep when being fed.  

I went to a basic training meeting.  The reason they want us to use a specific  language is so the children will feel comfortable understand the words they are hearing.  When a child is learning a language, too many words too quickly can be overwhelming.  We do not say "no" because we want them to specifically know what they should be doing, not just that they shouldn't be doing something.  Also they want to minimize the children saying it to them.  

Forgot to Mention

I have a green dot on my knee that henry drew with a marker.  

Week 2 Day 1

Today I started at 3pm.  Grayson and Austin had just gone down for a nap.  Jacob and Henry woke up from their nap and had a snack of string cheese, juice and crackers.  I had to sit Henry down and put his shoes on while Jacob just stepped into his shoes.  They were both playing at the corner of the yard putting their hands in a pile of dirt.  Though they were next to each other they did not interact.  Jacob started coloring with markers and Henry followed.  After Jacob left we took Henry to the other classroom.  He always goes straight for the sandbox.  Henry plays alone even if the other kids are interacting around him.  He randomly shouts and has spurts of laughter caused by nothing at all.  I'm not sure if this is random or if he finds simple things around him funny.  Henry then had some crackers and juice, and waved goodbye to me as I left for the day.  

nap time

It's funny, I started this at 5am a few weeks ago because I couldn't fall asleep, and finally felt tired after creating it that I was too tired to write my first blog.  On Wednesday my professor for my field study class discussed how easy it was to document your life, as long as you write on a regular basis, he was talking about writing our final paper after our field research is finished.  So I figure this blog was created at a perfect time.  Now I can use it to document what is going on at my internship at the Infant Toddler Center at UCI.  Right now this will probably be boring for the rest of the world, but it will really help me write my paper.  

I am currently in room 1 or "nest 1" as they call it.  The kids range from 4 months to 17 months old.  Austin is the smallest one at 4 months old.  He tries to roll over when laying down, but has not completed the task yet, and he can also follow colored scarves that I wave in the air with his eyes.  He still does not respond to peekaboo.  Grayson is seven months old and can pull himself to a standing position.  he constantly puts things in his mouth and is eating babyfood from a jar and is still breast feed.  Austin drinks formula and always has.  Grayson loves to play peekaboo and is always surprised when I reveal myself to him.  Henry is 15 months.  He is eating solid foods.  It is hard for him to follow directions and listen to what I am saying.   Jacob is 17 months.  When he first saw me he stared at me for at least five minutes.  Its funny to me when you are meeting a child for the first time and don't know whether or not they can speak.  I looked at Jacob thinking of him saying all these things to me, but he never responded.  You can see him struggling to express himself by mouthing words and pointing.  Jacob has a strong understanding of object permanence.  When the teacher left and shut the door he peaked under the crack of the door to see where she had gone.  He knew there was something behind the door.  As a side note the infants take about 2 naps a day while the toddlers take 1 nap.  The infants naps are separate while the toddlers tend to sleep at the same time after lunch.  

I'm still learning how things happen at the center.  The children are given options in front of them so they can choose what they want to do.  Instead of being told "no" they are told what they are supposed to do.  We are also not allowed to mention any kind of opinions about outer appearance.  They want to boost self confidence, and take away the importance of outer appearance.  

So I guess this is the end.  I know nothing exciting happened, but I'm hoping I'll see some development over the next few weeks.