1.1. Physical:I begin as a zygote (formation resulting from 2 gametes) which carries genetic information in the DNA, the 23rd pair determines the sex of the child. My mom waited till I was born, but I ended up being a girl. Then I become a fetus which leading up goes through two important stages the germinal stage and the embryonic stage (develop the major organs of the body. The final stage, fetal is where the organs have started to differentiate and as a fetus I go through major changes. I gain activity during 4 months where my mom begins to feel movement as I roll, kick, burp and suck my thumb.. My activity as a fetus affects my later development as an infant. I stay a fetus and continue to change until my mom gave natural birth to me 9 months later on January 20, 1992 in Grays Harbor Hospital. I came out too fast for her to get an epidural!
1.2. Social: little social capabilities develop during this stage, they develop more in the stages after my birth.
1.3. Cognitive: prenatally as a fetus I developed the rooting reflex while in my mother's womb, this reflex will last until just three weeks after my birth and then it disappears.
2. Adolescence
2.1. Physical: At this stage, I was highly active with running in both cross country and track. My strength dramatically increased after the introduction of weight training in my first year of cross country/ track in college at Lipscomb University. I rapidly grew in height and my feet did not stop growing till sophomore year of high school. I learned to adapt to changes in my body and by 15 I had my first menstrual cycle. I developed acne by 7th grade and continued to struggle with it through high school.
2.2. Social: Stayed in contact with my best friends and close friends even while in college. Called my mom every day and still do, she is my ultimate support. I can talk to my mom about everything. Had many acquaintances in high school and build close friendships through track and cross country some that i still hold today. I rekindled my friendship while in college with one of my best friends from my first high school (Aberdeen). I developed a close friendship with the first person I met when I moved and entered a new high school, we are still best friends today. During high school, I was extremely shy at first but then really easy to talk to. I didn't get more outgoing until I went to college. I was and still am extremely friendly with a big heart and a "no quit" attitude. I let fear go and found my love for running and being competitive.
2.3. Cognitive: I found out I was good with numbers and really enjoyed English. My intellectual growth at this stage matches the cognitive abilities as an adult. I am able to think more abstractly at this point beyond what is concrete and present in front of me. This is come to be known as perceiving the "shades of grey". I began to question my parents reasoning at this point. I didn't argue much with my mother but I wasn't afraid to point out what I thought.
3. Middle Childhood
3.1. Physical: I continued to grow about 2-3 inches per year on average and gained a little bit each year. I was healthy as a child and very active, I loved PE and playing outdoors with my imaginary friends trevor and sarah. My fine and gross motor skills continually grew stronger through the school years. As a result , I developed better muscle coordination, balance, and agility skills. I got in accidents often but only minor ones and I never broke a bone. I loved to play basketball and received by first basketball/hoop at age 8. I spent hours practicing shooting hoops until I was perfect. My parents encouraged playing outdoors so I would be out there after homework was done until dinner and then after dinner until it was dark.
3.2. Social: I continued to gain new friends at school and begin to love going to school every day. I start to realize my sense of self both physically and psychology. What I my strong attributes are as an individual through experience and trial vs. error. Through going to school, I realized that I am a good friend, a great runner, and have a knack for spelling. Not only am I able to see my strengths but I was also able to see my weaknesses, I had a hard time remembering things, I sometimes was too shy to stand up for myself, and I wasn't good at leading a group. My friendships grew stronger during this time and I was able to tell who was and was not a true friend.
3.3. Cognitive: I started thinking of ideas and plans at this stage. I planned on becoming an astronaut when I grew up because I loved looking at stars and the moon. Basically anything that had to do with space. Instead of being centered on myself, I started moving away from egocentric thoughts/views and took on a more decentering thought process. I am able to take on and solve more complicated problems and equations. And I am able to do them reversely also (like 2+3 and 3+2 which both equal five). I can not only add but multiply, divide, and subtract numbers. My ability to form words with letters from the alphabet greatly increases during this time, and I end up finding out it is easy for me spell words simply from sounding the words out. I go on to win 2nd place in my 4th grade spelling bee. I am able to distinguish between what is the right thing to do and what is wrong. Along with right and wrong my memory becomes stronger and then continues to increase as I age. As I continue through elementary school, my vocabulary continues to increase from basic to more complicated words. I move from picture books to chapter books. Through this and other stimuli, I learned the rules of the English language.
4. Preschool
4.1. Physical:This was the beginning of what would trigger my highly active lifestyle. I played soccer for one year during this stage and absolutely loved to run any time I could. You could not get me off the playground. My favorite thing was the swings and the slides. I loved playing outside. I was always ready to go and according to my mom the first one always out the door. My rapid growth continued during this stage especially my feet! My feet kept increasing in size every few months even as I grew older. I got colds but not as often as most other kids, but I did end up with alot of "boo boos" as I would come home to my mom crying.
4.2. Social: I was shy but loved playing with others during recess. I learned how to share and the proper manners and habits to use when around adults or when guests are over. I started being fearful at this stage right after being diagnosed with epilepsy. Met my first best friend through preschool.
4.3. Cognitive: "Auras" started to develop during this stage. Even though I did not know what they were they were a clear indication as I would be able to tell later that I was about to have a seizure. I had a large vocabulary as a preschooler and would often try to speak like adults when I was around them. I learned the letters of the alphabet and numbers and slowly started to be able to write my name. Begin to comprehend what others were saying to me to be able to give a response back. Used the appropriate formation of words and principles of grammar. I often held private speech sessions as I participated in imaginary play. When talking to others I incorporated pragmatics often (social speech). Learned some lessons from watching sesame street. I developed mental reasoning learning that some things are deceiving to the eye especially in terms of volume. I begin to learn how to read from my parents.
5. Infancy and Toddlerhood
5.1. Physical: I was born with big feet and big hands so as a result my growth continued to be rapid during this stage. My head accounted for most of my body size. My nervous system is developed resulting in the ability for me to make new connections as I begin to watch my older sisters and parents. I started crawling early and was walking in plenty of time before my 1st birthday. By 3 weeks I developed new reflexes. I continued to develop my fine and gross motor skills during this period. I slowly begin to develop a normal sleep cycle because as a baby, I was really sleepy due to drowsy effects of being born with epilepsy. I did not like cribs at this stage so my mom put into my own bed before my 1st birthday. I was much happier this way. My 5 senses sight, smell, taste, hear and touch continue to develop during this. My hearing is quite well as an infant due to the early prenatal development. I was potty trained before 2 years and was slowly introduced to solid food.
5.2. Social: I was a pretty smiley baby but highly attached to my mother. I definitely went through seperation anxiety when my mom would leave. I loved being around family but would exhibit stranger anxiety when I met somebody new. This stage in my life, I displayed nonverbal emotion in reaction to stimulus by smiling, making an angry face, crying, etc. Sociability increased as I aged and I developed self awareness and empathy.
5.3. Cognitive:At this stage, I am able to interact with the outside world. As a result, I am able to develop schemes and connect assimilation with accomodation. By 8-12 months I have developed the idea of object permenance. My memory continues to develop where I then begin to encode and retrieve new information for later recall. With every interaction I am making more neuron connections in my nervous system. As a baby, I was pretty smart and even learned how to get myself out of the car seat quickly with my seat belt even on, my mother used to call me "hoodini baby". I showed early signs of connecting specific situations with feeling claustrophobic. I begin to learn to connect sounds/symbols with words which led me to go from making sounds to my first word.
6. Early Adulthood
6.1. Physical: I am a student athlete in college who plans on staying the healthiest I can be beyond just college. I am a runner for University of Idaho and set goals to challenge myself.
6.2. Social: I hope to married to the love of my life/best friend some day. Or if its not meant to be II still want to happy whether I am married or not. I plan on adopting as least one child in my family and don't plan having anymore than 4 kids. I plan on spending time with my family as much as possible through college and one day earning enough to move out with two great friends I have met here at U of I. I know finding a job will be challenging and emotionally draining but I am going to power through until I find one that works with athletes. I attend church on resonate on sundays but this fall plan on attending village again and church on thursdays as well. This will give me an opportunity to build spiritual and lasting friendships with the people in the moscow community. A few years after I graduate, I plan on traveling to other countries to experience other cultures and gain a better understanding to how I can help both my own country and those across the globe at the same time.
6.3. Cognitive: To maintain my skills I plan on continuing to go to college and then after I graduate work on my certification to become a personal trainer. I will use both technology and reading to maintain my intellectual capacity. I plan on doing research solely on the side to challenge myself with coming up with solutions to nutritional problems.
7. Middle Adulthood
7.1. Physical: I still plan on competitively running and being physically active through out my middle adulthood so that I decrease the chance of developing heart disease or have a heart attack or stroke (runs in my family). I hope to be able to say I made it to the Olympics before I turn 40. I plan to run at least one marathon in every one of the states across the US. I want to be able to go on vacations with my husband at this point especially after my kids are off at college (if I end up having kids).
7.2. Social: I plan on taking adventures with some of my close friends and best friends and hold book gatherings at least once every two weeks. I also plan on being active in my community and volunteering in several locations. As I continue to age through this time frame, I want to be comfortable with who I am and not be ashamed of showing gray. I hope society at this point gets rid of the double standard of aging.
7.3. Cognitive: Being both a registered dietitian and personal trainer (hopefully), I desire to build up enough experiences to do both jobs well by this point and be able to teach others the importance of staying healthy even across the globe. I will continue to attend classes once awhile to keep my mind sharp and be able to learn through new experiences.
8. Late Adulthood
8.1. Physical: As a dietitian/personal trainer, I hope to be active and healthy still at this point. I plan on running till I no longer take one more step. Being in a health field, I hope I continue to use what I have learned to my benefit and to help slow down osteoporosis. I am more susceptible to illness at this point but I hope to find something that will make my immune system stronger as I age so I don't end up getting sick. Since cancer is one of the most common illnesses to develop in the later stages of late adulthood I hope I am still cancer free at this point. The best outcome would be never to be diagnosed with cancer.
8.2. Social: I hope to go places with friends rather than just staying in contact via the web. I will keep in contact with my family and have many gatherings with them at my house or travel to their place. I plan on still being married at this point and in a romantic relationship or else extremely happy on my own either way I want every day of life is a blessing during this stage and that is what I will be most grateful for. I hope I don't have deal with ageism but if it happens I won't be afraid to stick up for myself because being older does not make me less of a person, I am still a human being just like everyone else. I will have a smile on my face every day (just like the lady running in the picture).
8.3. Cognitive: my long term memory most likely will almost be gone. I have the chance genetically to develop some level of dementia, however, I hope to never show symptoms of alzeihmers since that is the most common form in my family. Sensory and short term memory are still intact at this point but slowly start to decrease. My reaction time will dramatically increase making it more difficult to finish things fast but I can adjust to my own set pace.
9. Death and Dying
9.1. Physical: Body is becoming fragile and weak in preparation for death. Muscle Strength is nearly gone. I no longer am able to really move or do what I wish.
9.2. Social: I hope to die in my home, so I plan on having all my close friends and family that are still alive surrounding me and comforting me during this difficult time. I do not want to die alone. I will have signed a living will stating my wish to be cremated when I die. I will have a large get together before I die just to celebrate the wonderful life I got to share with the people around me. I want my loved ones to not be sad but happy knowing I passed on peacefully and with great joy.
9.3. Cognitive: All cognitive functions will decrease until there is no visible sign of brain activity, this is when my family and friends will know I have passed on. When all the brain waves have ceased.
