Grace at 18 Months

In a previous post, I had a request to describe Grace's personality and development these days. Last week I got the progress report from daycare for Grace, so I thought I'd share their thoughts and my own.

First of all, I say Grace is definately entering her "terrible two's" although she's at least 6 months early. Here's a prime example...Last week out of 4 days of daycare, Grace got a "frowny face" two days. Here were the comments from her teacher.
Tuesday: "Grace has really been testing today. Doing things she knows she shouldn't be doing, being rough with her friends, and screaming at naptime/banging her crib on the wall."
Thursday: "Grace has had a very hard day. She has not been using her listening ears. She woke all her friends up at nap. Was screaming, yelling, screaming "No." She has not used nice hands with friends hitting/pushing. Hitting herself, throwing toys. Had to go sit with Ms. Michele at nap."

It's not all bad. Except when she's testing the limits, she has a very sweet personality. She is a lover and loves to give hugs and kisses. Every morning she waves bye, bye and blows me kisses.

Here's the progress report from her Froggy class:
Cognitive Development
- Responds to simple directions, such as "Give me the ball" - Y - I agree
- Selects and looks at picture books - Y - I agree. She loves to read
- Names pictured objects - N - She doesn't say the names, but if I say the names, she can point to them.
- Understands concept of one, more, many - N - I know she does with food. She asks for "more"
- Understands prepositions to and with - N - I'm not sure
- Can nestle cups sequentially - N - I disagree. She can even do a shape sorter.
- Points to 4-6 body parts on a doll - P(Partially) - On her own body she can point to hair, head, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, arm, belly, legs, feet
- Regcognizes self in mirror - N - I definately don't agree. She loves looking in the mirror
- Imitates adult actions, such as sweeping, ironing, combing - N - Maybe I don't clean enough around her, but she does comb her hair, she will also brush her teeth, talk on the phone, or even driving
- Has limited attention span - Y - Definately
- Is beginning to understand functional concepts of objects such as "spoon is for eating" - N - Maybe I don't understand the question, but she definately knows what a spoon is for.
- Freely explores and investigates - Y - She is definately an explorer
Teacher comments: Grace's cognitive skills are increasing more and more. She is always learning and trying something new!

Communication Skills and Language Development
- Points to pictures of common objects - N - This just isn't true. She points to pictures in books at home all the time, especially animals
- Can identify objects when told their use - N - That's probably true
- Understands negatives such as 'no,' 'can't,''don't - Y - Definatley knows what these mean
- Enjoys listening to simple story books and requests them to be repeated - Y - Even tonight she said "more" after I finished her story
- Repeats two digits in order - N - I agree
- Labels common pictures and objects - N - She doesn't say much
- Uses phrases of 2-3 words - N - She doesn't use phrases yet
- Gives first name - N - I agree
- Shows frustration at not being understood - N - She gets mad if you don't get her something she's pointing at
Teacher comments: Grace hasn't started speaking yet, but she loves circle and tries really hard to form words. It won't be long and she'll be talking up a storm!

Words Grace says:
More (moe), Mommy, Mine, Daddy (Nanny), Banana (nana), Milk (mil), Zeus (ooo)

Motor Development
- Runs forward well - Y - She's all about running
- Jumps in place, two feet together - N - She has started trying to jump, but hasn't made it off the ground yet
- Stands on one foot with aid - Y - I agree
- Walks on tiptoe - N - I agree
- Kicks a ball with forward motion - Y - I agree
- Throws a large ball - Y - I agree
- Stands on one foot momentarily - Y - I agree
- Turns pages one at a time - Y - I agree
- Holds crayon with thumb and fingers, not fist - N - I agree
- Uses one hand consistently - N - She stills goes back and forth between right and left
- Paints with some wrist action, makes dots, lines, and circular strokes - Y - I agree
- Rolls, pounds, squeezes clay - N - I've never given her play-doh
- Constructs with Legos, tinker toys, etc. - N - She has some legos and tries at to put them together
- Turns handles - N - She does turn knobs at home
Teacher comments: Grace's motor skills are getting better and better. She is one of our daring froggies, nothing stands in her way!

Personal/Social Skills & Development
- Uses spoon, spilling little - N - I disagree, she uses her spoon very well at home and will even stab with a fork
- Takes off own coat - N - We've been working on this at home, she's been helping get dressed and undressed
- Puts on coat with assisstance - N - Again, she's very helpful getting dressed at home. She will stick out her arms for help.
- Plays near other children - Y - I agree
- Watches other children and sometimes joins in their play - Y - I agree
- Defends own possessions - Y - Definately
- Uses objects symbolically - N - Not sure what this means
- Participates in simple group activities, games, songs - Y - I agree
- Understands gender - N - She has started noticing her girl parts lately
- Increasing sense of independence - Y - Definately
- Generally does as told, or minds - Y - I agree (most of the time)
- May be afraid of thunder, sirens, loud noises - Y - I agree
- May enjoy performing for others - Y - I agree, she especially loves dancing
Teacher comments: Grace loves being around her friends. She never shys to give hugs and make them laugh. She's working really hard to master using her sppon.

It's so easy to think about all the cool things she does, but hard while I'm thinking about it. She loves to make us laugh and has changed so much the last couple of months.

Oh, and she definatly isn't a girly girl. No interest in dolls or playing house. She'd rather climb on anything or her new thing is jumping off of things.