museum freak.

Believe it or not, kaka itu museum freak.

He has deep love for museums..
Mungkin karena dia emang suka banget binatang, dan dari umur 18 bln dah suka bacain ensiklopedi binatang..
Mungkin juga ditambah kebiasaan waktu di Melbourne, kita lebih sering jalan2 ke museum dibanding mal. Dan disana museum itu fun banget. Mungkin sih memang persepsinya aja yang beda sama disini. Niat ‘mengedukasi’ masyarakat pun jalan selaras dengan kepentingan bisnis. Mustinya sih begitu.
Sekalian bikin orang lain pinter, sekalian nyari duit gitu..
Museum ya bisa juga jadi barang jualan kok.. asal pinter ngemasnya aja..
(seandainya duit gue banyaaaak… any investor interested in my concept? Contact me :) )

Anyway..
Semenjak pulang kaka selalu merengek minta pergi ke library n museum. Akhirnya kita memutuskan untuk pergi ke taman mini, karena bingung juga mau ke museum mana.
Inget banget waktu jaman kecil dulu, gue paling suka ke museum komodo.
Akhirnya kita pun jalan dengan semangat menerjang gerimis ke museum komodo. Kagetnya waktu masuk ke dalam…
Tempatnya sangat ngga keurus. Sedih banget gue ngeliat koleksinya yang terabaikan, penuh debu dan berbau jamur. Apalagi dengan kondisi pengunjung minim alias kita aja yang masuk, suasana malah jadi angker bukannya edukatif.

Yang bikin kaget, adalah reaksi kaka.
Dengan mata berbinar, dia sibuk menunjuk sana sini. Sibuk berkomentar tentang semua binatang yang alhamdullilah bisa dia kenali semuanya.
“look ayah, itu seagull..”
“itu ada tapir”
“ada giant sea turtle”
“look ada bat”

Nyesss…
Gue sangat terharu. Anak sekecil dia, bahkan bisa menghargai sesuatu yang di mata orang tuanya keliatan jelek banget. For the love of animals, untuk memuaskan keinginan belajarnya dia menikmati museum yang padahal sangat ngga layak untuk disebut museum (lebih pantes dibilang rumah hantu kali).
Melihat kaka yang bersemangat, gue jadi ikut semangat.
Sibuk menjelaskan kanan kiri dengan antusias.
Dan setelah selesai dari museum komodo, kita pun akhirnya mampir ke dua museum lain.
Transportasi (yang bener2 not recommended-karena ngga ada isinya!) dan ke museum serangga (nah yang ini jauuuuh lebih baik). Kaka sangat menikmati museum serangga pastinya.. walaupun dia agak sedih karena “museum serangga kok isinya butterfly terus? Ngga ada grasshopper sama ladybug..” halahhh…
Selesai 3 museum, dia masih merajuk minta museum yang lain..
Ayahnya Cuma geleng2 kepala.. biasanya anak merajuk minta mainan..
Lha ini malah minta ke museum..
Ada-ada aja ya anak-anak..

Adoooh ..kaka.. si museum freak..

0308.

we -heart- books.

Sejak kecil gue suka sekali baca buku dan mengkoleksi children’s picture books.
Selama tinggal di Melbourne, gue merasa sangat puas, dengan bisa nongkrong di library setiap hari jumat sama kaka. Bahkan sempet kerja casual di book shop walau itu Cuma jadi tukang bungkusnya aja… It felt so good. One of the best moments in my life!

Dan hasilnya, kaka and even dhyas jadi ikut cinta buku. Which is -I’m sure- is a very good investment in life. The point is, I love reading children’s books. And love reading it out loud to them (maklum deh, storyteller wannabe). Jadi selama ini gue ngga actually menyuruh mereka untuk baca buku, atau tiba-tiba mengajak mereka untuk ikut berpartisipasi. Awalnya gue yang super antusias untuk baca sendiri. Terus gue cerita bahwa buku itu keren banget n gue suka. Mereka jadi ikut penasaran dan sering banget meniru gue yang suka konsen dengan buku. Then the next thing you know, anak-anak mulai cinta buku. Bahkan kaka daya imajinasinya bisa gue bilang ‘gila’ banget. Sudah mulai bikin cerita-cerita pendek yang bener-bener dia ngarang sendiri.. for me, that’s amazing!

Sayangnya setelah pulang ke indo, kita kesulitan banget buat nemuin library. Gue jadi semakin terpacu untuk mewujudkan impian gue untuk punya library khusus buat anak-anak, tapi ya ngga mungkin juga untuk mewujudkannya dalam waktu dekat.. untungnya, alhamdullilah, selama disana gue banyak ngumpulin buku-buku yang memang sudah gue incer sebelumnya. Banyak bergaul di library bikin gue tau author-author top oz, dan illustrator-illustrator favorit. So I made a list, terus coba untuk kumpulin sebelum gue pulang. Dari mulai borders yang mahal sampai Sunday market and bargain books gue ubek-ubek. I definitely love hunting books! And thank god, I didn’t spent all the money I had working -my bum out- at the child care centre.. haha.. buat gue sih worth it aja. Tapi kaget juga sih pas balik ke indo lihat harga-harga buku anak-anak yang ngga sesuai dengan pendapatan kita sebulannya…pheeew, buat kebutuhan primer aja udah pas banget.
Buku jadi such a treat for the kids.
Karena ngga gampang belinya disini. Yah.. memang kalau soal buku ngga ada yang ngalahin harga buku di indo kayanya.. except ya itu tadi, book hunting ke pasar-pasar loak dan ngubek-ngubek toko buku bekas ya.. walau mungkin kualitasnya ngga sama kaya waktu kita hunting di Sunday markets, dan mungkin akan sedikit kepentok dengan nyari judul yang kita mau aja..

Well anyway, tapi puas kok. Kalaupun kita kesulitan buat cari library, insya Allah kita juga punya ‘library’ di rumah, yang cukup bisa memuaskan ‘kebutuhan’ membaca kaka n dhyas. Alhamdullilah. Semoga aja someday, kita bener-bener bisa mewujudkan impian untuk buka library sendiri. And share the love of children’s books with others..
Aminnnn…

030308.

about madhya.

this time it's about my second one, madhyasta..

name: Madhyasta Aryapradangga Sakapurnama (DhYas)
dob: Melbourne, oct 18 06
age: 12 mo
gender: male

likes:

• books: board ones please! :) the very hungry caterpillar, not so loud oliver!, slides and flap books, and whatever mas kaka is reading..
• toy cars: red the fire fighter from cars movies
• animals: big hairy spiders.. and teeny weeny ants..nyamm..
• tv & movies: mickey mouse clubhouse, johnny and the sprites
• library
• sandpit
• slides
• stairs
• musics: classical
• lullabies: bunda's dream a little dream
• throwing food
• bunda's action rhymes
• basically doing whatever mas kaka is doing
• utik
• ratta the stuffed mouse

dislikes:

• being left alone
• being snatched by mas kaka
• being bullied by mas kaka
• forced to do something

my son madhya or dhyas is a very adorable baby. strong willed just like his big brother. loves to be cuddled and hugged. spoiled thanks to utik. with no doubt 'anak gendongan'. his personality is developing, as far as i could tell... he's going to be the baby of the family.. until the next one arrives.. oh, and he's a libra :D

love him. loads. strangely enough his being there made everything easier for all of us. especially when we were still in melbourne. my dreams are all coming true with the birth of madhya. i'll never be lonely again. we're a complete set!

bunda.

about cakra.

about my first bee:

name : Cakrasena Balapradhana Sakapurnama / KaKa
dob : jakarta, july 16, 2004
age : 3 yo
gender : male

likes:

• books: sam series, too many pears, i won't say please, my dad, pigs can't fly, poldy series, clumsy crab, encyclopedia about space & insects, etc (heaps of books)
• toy cars
• animals: BUGS and SPIDERS!!!
• role playing
• photography: not just with a toy camera lho.. he's really serious with this one. he used his dad's nikon d80!
• exploring with his magnifyer
• movies & tv: toy story, robots, incredibles, abc play school, the wiggles
• musics: the wiggles, itsy bitsy spider, how do u feel today?, jelly on a plate, wiggly woo, etc
• library
• playground
• food: fried chicken, chocolate biscuits, fried rice..
• lullabies: bunda's dream a little dream
• fruit juice
• superheroes
• akung

dislikes:

• fruits on plates
• strange new food and people
• being forced doing something
• being polite!
• adek dhyas snatching his toys
• being followed or imitated

my son cakra is a strong heded boy. loves to 'challenges' his bunda.. a lot. still tantrums. but basically a very loving little boy. especially to his family. smart. has a memory of sponges (but don't they all). very very moody. mature. sensitive... he's a cancer.. :D

love him. loads. has a history behind us, especially when we were still in melbourne. a shoulder to cry on. he was there by my side through the ups and downs of pregnancy. strong and tough little boy. have so much respect for him..

bunda.

welcome to my busy beehive!!

welcome!
this is my beehive, the place where i make journals about my children, their daily activities, their likes and dislikes, their food and recipes, and not to forget our rollercoaster rides as their parents...

the place where i could just talk about cakrasena (m/3 yo), madhyasta (m/12 mo), and their upcoming baby sibling (8 weeks..)..
so here we go..