Kayla's 2 1/2

Some of the environmental events that Kayla has been through the last couple of moths are her slightly below average ability to climb which I think comes from her falling off of the chair and hurting her head. I think we have all tried to be a little more cautious because we don’t want to have that happen again. But I can see the need for her to be able to do that safely so we are going to have to find some safe climbing opportunities, maybe at the park where she can practice but we can be right there. She also has a little trouble throwing and catching a ball and since money is tight, because we are saving to buy a house, that might be a fun in inexpensive activity that Dad and Kayla can do together.

I have big news – I am pregnant again! This will be an interesting time for Kayla we try and help her learn she will have a sibling that she will have to get along with. She does pretty well with other children except when they try and take toys from her, she still doesn’t like that but we are working on sharing, a very important life skill. We are going to try and have a few more play dates so that we can help Kayla with this. She is doing so well with potty training and this is a huge blessing because with a new baby coming I know having 2 in diapers would be difficult, time consuming, and very expensive! Kayla is a very bright girl, we have been working on her being a little more responsible for herself and she’s loving it. She seems to take directions from us pretty well.

It is so amazing, she can remember so many things and even provide simple descriptions of what happened like a trip to the petting zoo or the amusement park. I wonder if she has always had this memory and just couldn’t fully express it until now? This reminds me of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory where her language growth helps her to be able to communicate with us on a much higher level than before and it just keeps increasing. One of the social learning theories we heard about that we thought we would try is where we demonstrate a behavior and then try to get Kayla to copy us. We have been using a lot of extra polite words like please, thank you, your welcome, and Kayla seems to be picking up on not only the word its self but the proper way in which to use it. Also we have noticed that when we build with her blocks, Kayla likes to model her design after what ever we have built. Since Kayla is both at home with us and in day care we have also heard about the Ecological Systems theory and agree with the idea that these environments along with spending time with extended family all help influence her growth and development. We feel so lucky to have such a good support system and know that is why Kayla is developing and growing into such a wonderful little girl!