Dina turned 15 on the 15^th! The only other time this will occur, is when she’s a teenager! Mmm..I pray that God graces me with good health and long enough life to see her turn 15, insyaAllah..

 Her progress thus far:  

• She talks a lot! She blabbers as if we can all understand her. She CAN however utter a few meaningful words. Her favourites: “Pa-ppa..”, “Maa mii”, “Shoee”, “nak nak” (most times while pointing to mummy’s chest..sheeshh..apply some discretion Dina..), “bea” – for Bird, “Tet” – for Cat, “Dag” for both Duck and Dog..:P
• She can understand, “tido”, “duduk”, “Mickey”, “Barney”, “takde”, “abis..”, “water”, “tlg amikkan..”, “kipas”, “lampu”, “mata”, “nose”..etc..
• And ooh, did I tell ya – she can count up to three!
• Is shy now when she meets strangers. Kalau dulu nak jugak main mata & salam. Now cam jeling2 je or pretend that she can’t see them..
• Is obsessed with Mickey Mouse..kalau keluar gi mane2, and she sees anything at all with a Mickey Mouse figure, she’ll hold on to it mcm it is rightfully hers. If we try to take it from her, die nangis sedih sgt – cashier nak pinjam sekajap utk byr pun die sedih. Thank God the Mickey sheets kat Aussin0 tuh ada 70% discount..(yes, even sheets!)
• Tgk CD barney mata tak berkelip, and of course loves the signature ”I love you” song..goyang2 badan and will hug mummy & papa on cue..
• Kuat merajuk, as above, and as Auntie Rok14h at school keeps telling us..
• Is walking and almost running like she’s been doing it for yrs [tipu je, terkedek2 lagi]..she started her first few steps when she was abt ~13 mths..
• Likes to open all the cabinet doors in the kitchen..suke bawak keluar maggi.
• Can play make belief already..suke buat2 suap mummy or papa die..be it gune tangan or sudu..
• Suke mandi & main air – kat mana2 boleh, dlm tub, dlm pool, shower..and oh, isn’t afraid of the ocean anymore..! we went to a friend’s beach wedding in PD a mth ago and discovered this. She loves playing with sand too!
• Suke main anything yg ada penutup; eg. botol susu, bekas Tupperware, drinking bottle, dsb..
• A bit choosy now when it comes to food. I no longer bekalkan her with home-cooked food when we send her to the nursery – to let her eat what her friends eat. I still cook [and freeze] some porridge once a week for Dina’s dinner. Dina tak suke telur, but in love with keropok and NASI, likes cheese, yoghurt..favourite is still of course, mummy’s porridge cooked with love [perasan]..
• Is no longer fully on BM..work has been super crazy. I never have time to pump.., but maybe it’s just me not making time ..i pump only once a day now, either on my way home or when I get back home, which is obviously not enough..and get abt 4-5 oz, enough only for 1 or 2 feedings at school. So we supplement with enf4grow..but expensive lah this one! but this is the first one we tried, and Dina seems to like it, but still, refuses to take the bottle from anybody else outside the nursery..I shld look at alternatives..

On another note, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the importance of early childhood education/pre-school; particularly for children aged 0-5, and that starting school at age 7 is simply too late, as abt 90% of child’s brain develops during the first 5 yrs of life. Sweden, knowing the significance of this, has been developing various programs, including giving universal access to their young ones since three decades ago! I am, simply said, overwhelmed by the wealth of info/research on the area..will highlight some of the key findings later.