I remember a story I wanted to write about Emmy quite some time ago, my favorite memory of her in younger days...
When Emmy was 13 months old, she was moved from the infant room at her (old) "school" (we euphemize "daycare") to the young toddler room. Right around the same time, they were doing developmental assessments on all of the kids. Anna would have been, uh, 32 months. Her assessment must have been designed for kids ages 2-3, or 24-36 months. The assessments were divided into sections and included 8 or 10 activities/skills per section that should be achieved by the end of the assessment period, and the teacher was to check off those skills that the child has mastered. So Anna's assessment form was kind of like:
Cognitive
- Identifies all body parts
- Sorts objects by color
- Recognizes circle, square and triangle
- and so on...
Language
- Listens to stories for at least 15 minutes
- Says names of all family members
- Recites alphabet
- and so on...
Gross motor
- Stands on one foot for 10 seconds
- Jumps with two feet
- Climbs stairs with alternating legs
- and so on...
There was also a section measuring emotional and behavioral development, and fine motor skills, I think. I vividly recall Anna's little sheet having every.single.item checked off, and in every "comment" section, it was noted, "Anna is remarkably aware of others' feelings," "Anna has language skills beyond what is expected at her age, " and so on. As much as I try to be cool, I was of course delighted. Bursting with pride. She had mastered all that a 3-year old should, and more! Yay!
Emmy's assessment was for children ages 12-18 months. Now, there is a huge difference between a 12-month old and an 18-month old. She was only 13 months old, and I didn't expect many 18-month old skills to have been mastered, as she was a pretty lazy baby, like Anna, and was just barely walking at the time, hadn't uttered a single word, refused a bottle (!!), and was just, even then, marching to the beat of her own drummer. But when I saw her assessment, I burst out laughing. If possible, I was even more proud than I was of Anna's. There were only two skills checked off on the entire form:
Gross motorEmotional
- Climbs furniture without assistance
- Displays defiant behavior
That's my Emmy! She is growing into a remarkable little person. She is very passionate, both when she's feeling loving, and when she's feeling angry. She is so strong and independent, and I admire her autonomy. Her chutzpah. I get the sense that she will be a fierce adolescent, and adult; she will not allow herself to be constrained by what anyone else thinks, ever. How liberating. I hope she keeps her fire burning.
