A Developmental Portrait of Siena (From 0 to 2 Years)
Prenatal and Birth
In order to asses Siena from 0 to 2 years, I must start off with explaining how surprisingly Siena came
into our world. I had been diagnosed 10 years prior with testicular cancer. After the removal of the
testicle and removal of a benign mass from the remaining testicle, I was told I would not be able to
father any other children. During those ten years prior to Siena, I raised my older children, went through
a divorce and meant Siena’s mother. She was aware that according to the doctor I was supposable
sterile. We were both surprised when in October she started having symptoms of being pregnant. She
did an in- home pregnancy test and sure enough “surprise” she was pregnant. The urologist explained
that in rare cases the testicle repairs itself. At this point I had mixed emotions running through may
head. I was, after all, in my early forty’s and knew that the chances to genetic abnormalities increased as
we got older. Her mother, my wife now, took great care of herself. She ate healthy, took prenatal
vitamins on a regular base due to have had a baby six months prior that which I was raising as my own.
In early November my wife started hemorrhaging during a weekend trip to Portland. We both new that
she was probably miscarrying. Her doctor ordered an ultrasound to verify the miscarriage and surprise
to us she was still pregnant. The doctor said that she was probably pregnant with dizygotic twins and
one had spontaneously aborted. Thru all the joy and excitement, came the worries of genetic
complications.
During conception, my wife was breasting feed our 6 month old daughter. She ate quite healthy and
took natural supplements to ensure healthy breast milk for our daughter. My wife avoided all known
teratogens .During her prior pregnancy, she had developed high blood pressure about half way through
her pregnancy. Her blood pressure was monitored routinely and at about sixteen weeks the doctor put
her on a low dose of blood pressure medication which kept her blood pressure stable up until about 35
weeks. Up until then, Siena had been growing adequately. My wife’s weight gain was good; Siena’s
measurements were within normal limits via ultrasound. At 37 weeks both mother and fetus (Siena)
started experiencing complications from the high blood pressure and Siena was born three weeks early.
Siena was born at 37 weeks and 2 days. She weighed in at 6lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. She did not
suffer from LBW due to her being premature. The only complication was that after delivery her Apgar
was in between a 6 and 7. She had a bluish color to her which was caused by lack of oxygen (anoxia)
during delivery. With the assistance of blow by oxygen, her Apgar score increased within about 5
minutes. With-in the hour, Siena was maintaining her own oxygen supply, body temperature, and
feeding via her reflexes (involuntary response). Both Siena and my wife were discharged the following
afternoon in excellent health.
My wife and I had already established a parent-infant bond during her pregnancy. Siena would respond
as I would sing to her and her mother. She also started a bond with her sister by kicking at her when my
wife would breast feed our other daughter. My wife and I established a parental alliance ensure that
she would be brought up with two parents cooperating, similar to how the older children have been
raised.
Biosocial Development in the First Two Years
At first Siena seemed to be quite content with being on the outside. My wife continued to breast feed
both girls making sure that Siena was feed first. After the first week, Siena sleep cycle began to change.
My wife’s breast milk was not holding her over from one feeding to the next. She also became very
gassy which caused interrupted sleeping cycles. We decided to supplement formula with her breast
feeding cycle. By the end of the third month, Siena refused to breast feed and was only taking formula
for her feedings. Siena continued her abnormal sleep cycle until she was about 2 ½ years of age. I was
never into our children sleeping with us unless they were sick. Siena was the exception. Co-sleeping was
the only way we felt we could go. We attempted to let her cry, which had been suggested by many
family members, physicians, etc. This was the only way anyone could get somewhat of a good night
sleep. Some people would say she is just spoiled, but I think it was her way of making a point that she
fought in the womb to stay and be on this earth. This is a prime example of her genetic “self” or
personality she was born with. Other than that, her first two years were pretty average. She was always
on the higher percentile when it came to her weight at her WICC and doctor’s appointments, but the
lower percentile when it came to height. Her gross and fine motor skills where within normal range and
was a little more advanced in a few (crawling, walking) then her sister which is 14 months older.
With Siena being the youngest of six children and having a sister just 14 months older, she got a lot of
attention (love) which helped her experience-expectant brain functions. Due to the fact that our fifth
child was experiencing her own sense of independence, Siena experienced stimuli earlier than her sister
just older than her which created experience-dependent brain functions earlier in her first two years.
With my wife being a nurse and myself working in the medical field we kept Siena along with the other
children up to date on immunizations. When it comes to antibiotics, we would only use them as a last
resort. My wife is a firm believer in allowing the immune system to do its job when it comes to antibiotic
use. The down fall with Siena is that, due to not accepting breast milk, she did not get the natural
immunities from my wife. This causes her immune system a longer time to respond to infections, thus
causing the use of antibiotics on a few occasions.
Cognitive Development in the First Two Years
Even prior to delivery, Siena had some sensorimotor intelligence. We had several ultrasounds done
during the 37 weeks of pregnancy. Each ultrasound showed Siena sucking her thumb or putting her
hand in her mouth (primary circular reactions). She was performing Piaget’s first stage of sensorimotor
intelligence prior and quickly after delivery. She would either nurse or have a pacifier in her mouth.
Stage two was not far down the road. By two months she was on her way of grabbing at her bottle and
pacifier. During this time I had become ill with an infection which caused me to be hospitalized and then
return as an outpatient twice a day for antibiotic therapy. Siena would get very restless and agitated
when I was gone, but after I would return she would settle down and fall into a comfortable sleep. Siena
had gotten in a routine of laying down with me when it came to bedtime. She had begun her secondary
circular reactions by responding to my absence in the house. She also displayed excitement when she
would see different toys and showed her likes and dislikes of people (people preference) and object’s
(more secondary circular reactions). Siena continued with this pattern for months. Our older daughters
loved to play games with Siena such as Peek-a-Boo. This helped with her object permanence. We would
find her in her crib or on the floor putting a blanket over her head, pulling it off, and saying boo.
Siena started her tertiary circular reactions at around 10 months, which was earlier than Piaget’s
estimated time. Siena was learning things earlier than her sister did. With having a sister just 14 months
older, she wanted to do everything she was doing. Siena was walking and talking at around 12 months.
Her vocabulary seemed to be somewhat ahead of her sister. We bathed the girls together and they
loved to play with bath toys. They loved to be “little scientist” in the bathtub. I would watch them trying
to determine which toys would float and which ones would sink. Siena loved to play with a fake phone
that resembled my wife’s cell phone. I would find her throughout the house holding the phone up to her
ear acting as if she was talking to someone This was part of the deferred imitation Piaget describes.
Siena went from holophrase to naming explosion quit quickly. She went from single words to three
words together and then soon to complete sentences while her sister was just at the same level but
older. Siena’s vocabulary and grammar excelled quite rapidly. This gives proof to Chomsky’s hypothesis
of language acquisition device. My wife and I strive to speak clearly and correctly when talking with the
kids. Because of that, Siena’s was able to use her mental structure of seeking out element of the
human language speaking early and have such a high vocabulary at such an early age, which Chomsky’s
cited. We were out on a road trip prior to her second birthday and out of the blue we heard “are we
there yet”? We thought it had come from our older daughter and just astounded that it came from
Siena.
Psychosocial Development in the First Two Years
Siena did experience colic from about three through eight months of age. They say that colic can be
caused by an immature digestive system. We could associate this with her being born at 37 weeks. I feel
it was a caused by genetics. Her sister that is 18 years older developed colic at about the same age and
digestive conditions run on my side of my family.
Her emotions such as social smile, laughter, anger, etc., developed at normal weeks or age. Her social
smile was always a welcoming sign due to it demonstrated to us that her digestive system was on track.
Siena was always receptive of people up until Christmas when we had the girl’s picture taken with Santa
Claus. Her stranger wariness showed her true colors. You would have thought she had just gotten a
shot. After that her separation anxiety came into play. We would take her to daycare and when she
realized that we were leaving, the world would come to an end.
I do agree with the epigenetic theory when it comes to temperament. I do believe that it is a genetic
trait. My mother told me, one day when I was expressing my concerns with her about Siena and her
sleep patterns and temperament. I was told that I was the hardest child of all my siblings, the youngest
of nine. I would not sleep at night, similar to Siena, and when I got mad it was like the world was coming
to an end. Luckily, we both have out grown this, I think.
Looking at psychosocial development and comparing it to Siena’s development, I see a mixture of Freud
and Erikson psychoanalytic theories. Freud oral stage, Siena associated her binky and food to her mouth
for comfort and fulfillment. Freud anal stage pertaining to sensual pleasure of bowel movements did
not compare with Siena. Siena succeeded in toilet training when her self-awareness emerged. This was
part of Erikson’s autonomy versus shame and doubt came into play. When she was able to control her
body actions was she able to become completely toilet trained.
Siena’s behaviorism was molded by our reinforcement when she did good things and punishment
according to the degree of misbehaving was going on. Reinforcing one another (positive and negative
reinforcement) in the presence of Siena and the other children helped mold Siena’s behavior. We were
aware of social learning and tried not to show bad examples for Siena to learn. We also stressed to the
old children about social learning and how it could affect how Siena behaved.
Siena started going to daycare with her sister at 3 months old. The working model, which is part of the
cognitive theory, would help both girls interact with other children. They need to learn these skills in
order to succeed later in life. We also strive to have a combination of proximal and distal parenting.
Examples of these would be reading books to them at bedtime, allow them to assist or join in reading,
the books and sitting with them and talking about their day at daycare.
All in all, Siena is advancing quite well. The concerns about genetic abnormalities have sense been
eliminated. In some respects she has advance quicker than some and is behind others. This is common
for most children when they are compared to each other. I cannot say that I am sold on any one grand
theory. There are similarities Siena has expressed the compare to each grand theory. I believe that we
all develop differently by nature and nurture.