Marcus Richter

Psy-1100
Section One Person Paper
The person I have chosen to do my person paper is conveniently my nephew. This gave
me the opportunity to be very close to him and observe many happenings in his life. He lives in
a home that is a nuclear family, consisting of his parents that are happily married and one
brother that is two years older than him. His parents are still fairly young his dad being 29 and
his mom 26. They would be considered a middle class family. Mikel His dad just finished school
to become a chiropractor and as recently started working in that field. His mother is Emily is 26
and is a stay at home mom. They are both Caucasian and in very good health, Mikel goes to the
gym 4-6 times a week while Emily does about 3-5 times a week. Although Sway was born in St.
Louis, they now reside in a nice neighborhood in Utah close to family and friends which provide
a lot of support if it is ever needed.
The pregnancy was a very smooth pregnancy. There were no unusual complications or
health issues for the child or the mother. Even during the pregnancy Emily would go to the gym
about 3 times a week and ride a stationary bike. He was born in a hospital but with no addition
medications to induce labor. Mikel drove Emily to the hospital and was there throughout the
whole process being very supportive. The child was born with an average birth weight and
height and no visible deficiencies or symptoms. The baby was planned and every precaution
that could be taken prior to pregnancy to ensure a healthy baby was. Neither of his parents
drinks alcohol or smoke so there was not risk there. His parents made sure to diet properly
together and support each other. His dad was very good and taking of his mom and did
everything a supportive father should including talking to and interacting with his pre-born son.
He was given the birth name Sway Mikel Richter which was already decided before his birth
date.
From the very beginning of his life sway was a very strong, healthy boy. His demeanor,
reflexes, and motor skills where very good. According to Berger in the invitation to the lifespan
Parent-infant bonding are crucial in the first hours of birth (pg. 70). Sways parents could not
leave his side not only for the first hours but for weeks. The held their baby and brought him
home to a house full of love that also included close attention from his older brother Krew.
Sway had no birth defects and seemed to be naturally healthy. As previously stated his reflexes
where very good, In the Invitation the Lifespan it states the strictly speaking the first
movements are not skills, but reflexes (Berger Pg. 94). Sway demonstrated all the initial
reflexes necessary for survival. He demonstrated the breathing, sucking and swallowing, and
reflexes to maintain body temperature.
Sways home life was pretty normal for an infant with his dad working Monday- Friday
and his mom staying at home to give him all the attention a newborn could ask for. Its
important to note he was breast fed and received all the nutrients a new born requires. He
grew and an average rate his height and weight all stayed in a normal healthy range. He did
display strength being a little early in most is gross motor skills. He was on target for being a lap
sitter, By 3 months most infants have enough muscle control to be lap sitters. (Berger, Pg. 95).
He progressed from there to wiggling, rolling over, and crawling efficiently. Regularly getting
his scheduled check ups Sway always got the seal of approval from the doctor. His fine motor
skills came later, but by about the time he was 11-12 months the pincer movement was
apparent as he was able to grab things and quickly try to put them into his mouth, Sway is a
very curious child as most infants are.
Not only was Sway developing physically well he was also developing mentally well.
Infant cognition is a very important factor in infant growth. According to Jean Piaget the
timeframe from birth to two years is called the sensorimotor intelligence (life Span, Pg 105).
Sensorimotor develops in six stages and Sway was right not track for all of the stages, From 1-4
months he demonstrated everything that involved primary circular reactions, from 4-12 months
he as on par with secondary circular reactions and from 12-24 months kept up on tertiary
circular reactions. All of these according to Piaget demonstrate intellectual advancement.
Although sway developed in a healthy manner he seemed to be very shy and scared of
strangers. Whenever anybody came close to him that was not known his expression would
quickly change to sadness or even fear. He expressed stranger awareness and did not seem to
get past this. According to Invitation to the lifespan stranger awareness is a social fear the
develops around 9 months in most children (Berger, Pg. 125). What is weird is Sway does not
display fear of other object or animals but only fear of people. Another oddity is that there was
not much in the way of separation anxiety if his caregivers left and there was not stranger
around. I find it odd that he did not cry when his parents left if there was someone he was
comfortable with their because that practiced Proximal parenting, which includes being
physically close to the baby, often holding and touching the child (Berger, Pg 136). To me it
seems like babies in this situation would show more separation anxiety than those who were
not touched enough.
At the age of 14 months Sways family made a major move. Since his father had finished
school they moved across the country from St. Louis Missouri to Provo Utah. This did not seem
to have much of an effect on Sways temperament or actions. He was still in the same home
environment and is probably too young to pay much attention to the environment outside of
his home or let it impact him greatly.
Throughout his first two years there was not much to report in the way of accidents or
bodily harm. He encountered minor trips or knocks as many infants do but his parents seemed
to be very in tune with the three levels of prevention. Especially Primary prevention, They
changed the conditions of their home to make injuries preventable not only for Sway but for his
older brother Krew as well. Although accidents did happen from time to time being a very
active family. Sways older brother loves to play with him and provide a good foundation for
social interaction with other children, this sometimes resulted in trips or falls but that comes
with the learning process of any 2 year old.
In observing and watching Sway over his life I also noticed his parents interactions with
him as well. According to the Invitation to the lifespan there are 3 patterns of parenting,
Authoritarian, Permissive, and Authoritative (Berger, Pg 210). Sway is brought up in a good
home with authoritative parents. His parents talk to him often and he replies with his rapidly
developing vocabulary. In all It has been amazing watching him and correlating what he is going
through to the text that I have been reading in the book. There is so many ifs, ands, or buts
that go into the development of a child and I think its impressive to follow from birth to them
turning into the functioning human being that they quickly become right in front our eyes.















Cited
Invitation to the life span, Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Worth Publishers 2010. New York, Ny.