# data[].attributes.body
My mom told me I slept a lot and never really cried. I was always a happy baby. I really liked being held. When I did cry my mom told me I just was hungry or needed attention. Newborns obviously can not talk so me crying was my way of communicating. I loved to be sang to and rocked in a rocking chair, that always calmed me.

# data[].attributes.body
I loved to look at myself in the mirror. Starting at one years old I had to wear a costume and bring my babydoll with me. I would tell myself in the mirror "I pretty". I recognized that is me in the mirror.

# data[].attributes.body
During the summer my parents ran an ice-cream shop inside of a private park. The park was right on the lake and had a playground and roads to ride bikes. I spent my whole summer there. During my early childhood my favorite thing was the monkey bars. This helped with my gross motor skills. I had to use my arm muscles (with help of course) to get across the monkey bars. I also loved to ride my tricycle all day. This also required muscle but in my legs. Being active all day and playing helped my early childhood physical development.

# data[].attributes.body
My sister is 14 years older than me so we have a big age gap. She told me as a toddler I would ask her a lot of questions, mostly "why". I would always ask why is something that color or why can't I have this etc.. She definitely got annoyed with me but it definitely helped my cognitive development in my early childhood. I was always very curious and wanted to the answer. I learned a lot of new words and it helped me understand things a lot better by asking questions.

# data[].attributes.body
My family and I have gone to church my whole life. I would go to the kids class during the sermon so I could be with kids my age and get a lesson a child could understand. I was a very social child and was not afraid to talk to anyone. I also liked to be in charge. My mom always tells me this story from when I was younger in church. As soon as I would get into the class I would have everyone line their shoes up by the door. I would say I was a leader for sure. I had a lot of friends in the class and we all would take turns making up games to play. Being able to use my voice confidently and learning how to take turns and listen to other kids playing with me helped my social development.

# data[].attributes.body
During my childhood I played a few sports. My increase in coordination and strength helped me a lot. When I was playing basketball I had to be strong so I could keep the ball. When I was playing soccer I needed coordination to be able to dribble the ball with my feet and not fall. All of these skills developed during my middle childhood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
My friends and I having a Christmas party in middle school.

# data[].attributes.body
In school we had a spelling bee that I finished in the top three. I was a really good reader and I loved learning new words. I was in gifted classes through school and I loved being challenged. I was not allowed to watch much TV as a kid so I did a lot of learning books and games to keep me busy. My cognitive development in my middle childhood age helped me win the spelling bee as well as grow as a student.

# data[].attributes.headline
Middle childhood social & emotional development

# data[].attributes.subject
Middle childhood social & emotional development

# data[].attributes.body
In middle school I was very good friends with my AAU basketball team. Still to this day I am close with a few. I really enjoyed being able to play at a more competitive level but also meet other girls my age that were not from my own school. We had big tournaments out of town and stayed in hotels. It definitely helped my social skills and being able to start conversations with people I didn't know. As well as helping me become more independent and start finding my sense of self since I did not know my teammates. All of these things heavily contributed to my middle childhood social and emotional development.