Child Observation

Child Observation Report #1

I observed Joseph "Jo-Jo Baby" Merryl , age one and a half years old in a church service. Compared to all of the other babies around his age attending the service, Joseph seemed a little more on top of what was going on in the service. He looked to his mother and mimicked her actions. When his mother bowed her head to pray he buried his head into her chest, he was quiet when he noticed the congregation had quiet down, he attempted to sing with the congregation when they sang. His mother held him throughout the service and constantly tended to him and engaged him. He was always clinging to or grabbing for his mother whenever she didn't pay attention to him or tried to put him down. When she was doing something else , like tending to his sister , Maggie "Maggie Baby" age five years old he would pout and try to grab the attention of the people behind him (myself and some others) he would hand us dinosaurs and crayons until his mother discouraged him. He did not like when his sister got any bit attention from the mother or if the mother's attention was anywhere elsewhere besides him. He would swat his sister away when she tried to hand him something. The only other times I saw him interacting with other children are when he noticed other babies getting upset or restless , even if he was having fun playing with dinosaurs he also got restless and cried out loud with the other babies. He did not seem to be really curious about anything or anyone in the church. He did not try to explore outside of the pews.

I did not get a strong sense of how he felt about himself. He seemed like a normal baby to me. I think his mother is tending to him and engaging him a lot. She is always hugging,cuddling, and kissing him. She is always talking to him and asking him questions. I would think that this is going to benefit his development because he is getting a lot of support. I don't think he is allowed to explore (that might be because of the church setting) even after the service in the nursery he played mostly by himself. I think that something is missing for him socially. I don't think his parents are letting him play with other babies as often and I think that is going to jeopardize his future relationships in life. He seems like a loner and only wants his mother. I think that will cause some maturing issues later in life if the parents don't address it soon.