The Meske Children

Today was a hot day. Erik turned this to his sympathetic advantage: when complaining about something, he said, “Mom, I’m so sad my FOREHEAD is crying!”

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This little boy, folks, is pure Joy! We get the pleasure of seeing this captivating look on his face ALL THE TIME! He loves his brother and sister, his parents and friends. He gets excited over bananas, PB&J sandwiches, dogs, cats, crawling, walking, and especially looking out the window.

Lincoln is also starting to talk. Truck, dog, cat, Hola!, Dad, Mamamamama, Elaena… every day it’s a new word with him. Those early words are so fun; you’re never sure you actually heard him right until he says it more than once.

Walking is fast becoming old hat to this little trooper. He toddles around the house like a drunken sailor, amazingly managing to switch directions and about-face suddenly without falling. He is also quite coordinated; he’s perfectly able to turn himself around and slide down the couch or the face of a chair without incident. He rarely falls, but rather crumples gently to the floor.

He’s also very good at self expression – he will tell you very clearly with his verbal cues and physical actions what he likes or doesn’t like. And he definitely has ideas about those things already! He’s also starting to show frustration at uncooperative objects, and although he can’t say “I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF,” it’s plain as day that he doesn’t want anyone’s help.

Like Erik at this age, he’s also a bottomless pit. You’d think we starve him; at barely 20# I have no idea how he can eat an entire PB&J, a banana, crackers, berries, some cheese and drink an entire cupful of juice and still be hungry. He’s definitely got his foods that he doesn’t like, and the face he makes to go along with it is a crack up!

He’s still a champion sleeper, and takes a regular morning and afternoon nap. He plays hard, sleeps hard, eats a lot and learns quickly. It’s so much fun watching him learn to communicate, and you can tell by the look on his face that it makes him happy too! He is such a joy to have around; Lola and Erik definitely watch over him, and it’s wonderful watching their relationship as siblings grow.

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My sweet, sweet daughter! She is filled with so much joy and love! She’ll be three in a few scant weeks, and she’s growing so fast emotionally that I almost can’t keep up with her!

I find I often lose Lola between her brothers; a typical parental mistake with the middle child, no doubt. She seems to take it well, however, and is flourishing in spite of her middle-child-ness! The other day, she caught me completely off guard. She was reciting numbers. “Mommy – 1, 2, 4, 16, 32.” “Oh yes, Lola, that’s wonderful.” Then she did the same sequence again – and I caught my breath. My eyes wide, I looked at her and saw my not-quite-three-year-old, and decidedly chalked it up to a coincidence.

Physically, she’s gained a great deal of coordination over her younger self. The other day at the river, she joyfully climbed on a giant rock in the river, never falling once! Her balance and coordination seem to have caught up with her daring, and her approach has evolved to a practice-makes-perfect technique. I admire her fortitude, and although it’s often been painful to watch, she’s starting to develop a grace that’s enchanting to watch.

She hasn’t lost all of her brutish ways, though, and her gusto has often resulted in bonked heads, dropped babies, and all manner of catastrophes that end in a sharp, “Lola!” on my part, and tears on her part for being chastised. For under it all, she has a heart of gold and never intentionally causes anyone harm.

She’s also quite adept at dusting, cleaning, and feeding Lincoln. I can even set her to folding kitchen rags and towels, which she stacks and puts away after folding them perfectly. She’s always willing to help with any task, whether it’s picking up toys, loading the dishwasher, or picking berries. She’s sensitive though – she’s happy to share, but if you try to take something from her she’ll fight you with all her might! All you have to do is ask her nicely, and she’s compliant.

Her vocabulary is expansive, but her enunciation has always been a bit… mushy. But in the last few weeks, I’ve noticed her speaking more clearly, and she is wanting to talk more often. Her communication style is interesting; she’ll show you she understands by repeating what you’ve said back to you- only “toddler-ized.” It’s really quite charming. And when learning a new concept, she’ll think on it for a while, and bring it up again and again until she’s got a handle on it. It’s wonderful to be able to hear and understand how her busy little mind is working.

My favorite thing about Lola is her love. She is so filled with love! She loves to give hugs and kisses; she’ll sit on your lap, and take your face in between her palms, and look deep into your eyes. “I love you,” she says in her sweet little voice. How will I ever give up my baby daughter to time? I can only wonder, and know that her future self will be just as vivid and charming as this little ray of light in my every day.

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Erik turned four toward the end of May, and all traces of baby have nearly left him. The way he talks and moves shows he’s a deep thinker, and he has a magic about him that I absolutely love.

Today at the park, he found a maple branch. “Mom,” he said. “This branch has magic!” He swung the branch, covered in leaves, around and around.

“Really?” I said. “What kind of magic does it have?”

He grinned and swung it again. It made a whooshing sound, and he said in a conspiring near-whisper, “It has Sound.”

“Oh, I see. What other magic does it have?” I asked.

Another grin, another swish. “It has Wind.” Swish, swish, swoosh. Dangerously close to our friend Jennifer’s head, but nonetheless I was entranced by this little person that had somehow gone from baby to boy in a blink of an eye.

I love the way Erik sees the world. He has a quick mind, and strings words together in a way that’s quite poetic. He’s thoughtful and compassionate, and his love for his little brother is apparent in every interaction. Lola is a little harder for him to deal with; she can be such a brute! But even still, he loves her well and tells her she’s pretty, and likes to touch her hair and play make believe with her.

He’s memorized most of his letters and their sounds by sight, and is definitively pre-reading. He’s got his numbers down as well, and has started performing simple calculations like addition. He’s always had great balance, and now with the added strength of a growing boy it’s translating into an agility that catches me off guard with every jump, spin and twist. I have no doubt that this summer will see him swimming as well as riding his bicycle without training wheels.

Erik is very excited about starting preschool this fall. He’s also excited for Lola to start as well – if you ask him about it, he’s sure to let you know that Lola is starting too! He’s really enjoying getting to know his world; learning to tell time, give driving directions (yes, he can tell you how to get to the store, the Hatchery – even Eugene!) and meeting new people. He’s a real charmer – watch out for him! You’ll lose your heart in the blink of an eye.

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Hello All! Thanks for stopping by!

There have been many recent changes in our family, so I’m restructuring a lot of the media that I’ve been using to communicate with friends and family. This blog will now be dedicated to The Meske Children! I will try to post about once a month, including photos and descriptions of where the little sprouts are in their development, recent activities and anecdotes.

I will also be adding a new photo album to go along with this blog. If ever there are photos you’d like in a larger format for printing, feel free to use the “Contact” link at the top of the page to request the file.

~Tamara

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My friend, Anne Hutchison Hensley, wrote this essay on the gush of oil that can’t be stopped. This essay resonated with me in many ways, so I’m reprinting it here with permission.

Lube
I looked at some pictures of oil-soaked birds today. I wanted to use words like devastating or horrific or cruel or catastrophic. None of them have requisite gravity. Those words, and many of their ilk, seem to be thrown around a lot lately, especially in regards to the environmental situation in the Gulf Coast region. Somehow they don’t mean anything to me right now. People all over the place are “outraged”, at BP for, well, you know; at Halliburton for Being What’s Wrong with Most of the World; at the Minerals Management Service for Coking and Sexing While Rome Burns; at Dick Cheney for his Super Secret Energy Club; at George Bush for Being George Bush; at Obama for not being Sufficiently Outraged, or Wearing Pants too Fancy to be Appropriate for Clean-up, or inviting Katrina 2: Electric Boogaloo, or whatever he did or didn’t do that they think he shouldn’t or should have done.

Being outraged feels benign anymore. I’ve been practicing quelling my outrage lately by listening to right-wing radio voices, building outrage calluses so that I can think straight when dire situations do arise. Outrage makes me feel small and weak and incapable of positive contribution. It’s a reaction, not a response. So, rather than feel Outrage at the Devastation of the Gulf Region, I find myself feeling like I think I might feel if I’d hit a pedestrian with my car. Nauseated, confused, guilt-stricken. Because I did this. I’m the one who did this. I’m the one who doomed that ocean life to flail to death in poison molasses (and blew up both the rig workers and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries). If you want to be outraged, feel free to totally direct it at me. Dick Cheney isn’t likely feeling nauseated, confused or guilt-stricken, so you’ll get plenty more bang for your buck taking me to task. And I am complicit, make no mistake.

Yesterday I was thirsty. Yesterday I was so insatiably thirsty I thought I might die. I hadn’t prepared as well as I normally do by bringing my metal water bottle, so I bought a disposable plastic bottle of water.

I don’t think any of you will take too much offense if I say that Stephen Hawking is probably smarter than anyone who will read this note. I apologize if you find that presumptuous, but there it is. Mr. Hawking recently said that we aren’t designed to rein it in. We are truly a scourge and will continue to decimate every being around us. We are going to consume and consume and consume until we need another planet or two. While I know he’s probably right and definitely smarter than me, I’m still committed to trying to mitigate the damage I do as a human on this earth. I try to stay conscious of my choices and their impact. I walk most places, year round. My family has one small car; we recycle; shop mostly resale; use reusable bags; cook with whole foods; compost; garden; work hard to make our house and appliances efficient; put on sweaters instead of turning up the thermostat; try to buy and consume only what we need and do so from local vendors and producers; try not to add toxins to the water supply with cosmetics and chemical cleaning agents; limit water consumption through infrequent showers and laundry (sorry, but it’s true); eschew air conditioning; try to limit the amount of plastics in our lives; follow all the rules that are now considered lefty and crunchy that were once just common sense. Conserving. Conservation. Conservative. But I bought that water bottle, and sometimes I drive to work so I can sleep an extra twenty minutes and I take far too many long, hot baths. Occasionally I buy something made in China. I create demand for cheap oil.

I’m not trying to relieve BP or Halliburton or the federal agencies of blame. The ostensible causes of the mechanical failure will be sussed out and the responsible parties will be called into the public square and scolded. Our collective conscience needs a villain writ humongoid across every last media outlet. Then we can move on, comfortable in the fact that we aren’t Dick Cheney or Tony Hayward. We can watch Dancing With the Stars until the next disaster creeps up. But this disaster isn’t yet behind us. The oil is still flowing, isn’t it? There’s some real beauty in the fact that we can’t seem to stop it. The earth doesn’t take orders from us. My joke lately is that BP just needs to throw the Unregulated Free Market down there, because that’s supposed to Fix Everything.

When did we stop saying “Nature” and start saying “Our Environment”? I don’t like it. I use the latter, because it’s the common vernacular, but I’d rather reclaim the former. Nature is what exists. The natural state of things. The natural process. The Environment is a diorama we can tinker with, assembling the different pieces to our liking. We are a part of Nature, but Our Environment is at our mercy.

Why am I talking about this? Because the oil is still flowing and everyone’s standing around trying to figure out what to do about it and everyone’s mad at everyone else for not knowing how to stop it. People are blaming the Sierra Club and Sarah Palin and whomever best serves their personal ideologies and when I point my finger at BP all I see is three fat, oily fingers pointing back at me. I propose that everyone on both sides blames me, so that we all may finally have consensus on something. On anything. I’ll be your Disaster Zelig. I don’t know how to fix it either, because it’s nature enacting a natural response to our having violated it terribly; but I will assure you that I am changed by this oil spill. I hope to continue to be changed. I’m attempting to adopt a heightened awareness of the fact that I do not operate in a vacuum. I am connected in some way to the brown pelican, and Halliburton does what they do because I pay them to do it. Do I need to make the extra trip in the car? Do I need the second helping? Can I find it from a local farmer? Can I stop using my computer so often?

Why am I talking about this on Facebook? Because I’m hoping to continue to connect with people in my community who feel the same way, and these can be awkward conversations to have. People are so often uncomfortable with the abstemious lifestyle choices of others. I haven’t entirely figured out why. If I mention that Chafe doesn’t drink alcohol or I don’t eat sugar anymore or we don’t eat fast food, I’m often met with frosty discomfort, as though my choices are accusatory. I try not to concern myself with other people’s priorities. I don’t really think much about heaven or hell or patriotism or whether my car is clean or how much money I’ll make in my lifetime and I don’t want a flat screen television (sorry, Chafe). While I consider myself a ravenous student of history and politics, you will never hear me say that we need to hold fast to the ideas of our Founding Fathers because I’m always tripped up by that sticky passage in the Constitution about slaves being equal to three-fifths of Free Men. What I am obsessively devoted to in this life is The Golden Rule (not in any way affiliated with Goldline), and a handful of gooey, cheesy platitudes. You know the ones: Be the change you wish to see in the world; be part of the solution, not the problem; we do not inherit the earth from our forefathers, we borrow it from our children. Pretty much anything you might have seen on a neo-hippy’s t-shirt in 1989.

So, if you have any inclination to have sincere conversations about how we can use our physical and electronic social networks to strengthen our local economies and our local natural communities, I’m your gal. Though I’m carrying around a consistent low-grade nausea about the untenable situation we’re in as a species, I’m somebody’s mom, so I have to hold some hope that we can salvage something good and healthy out of our current malignant lifestyle.

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Rode 11 miles in an hour yesterday – just a jaunt up FS19 and about a mile up 1910. The Mariposa Lilies were beautiful. I might ride up there again today to get some pics!

Since starting my exercise, I’ve lost 17 pounds. Woot!

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Yesterday, I rode 10 miles… I rode Westoak with June into Oakridge (in about 37 minutes!) and then I had a massage. Then I came back via Westoak as well, conquering the big hill up to the golf course for the first time. Woot!

I have a cold today, so not sure what I’m doing for exercise today, but I’m looking forward to it. Laura said she could see and feel a difference in my body with all the riding I’ve been doing. Today, I really noticed a difference too. Only 40# to go! Haha.

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Saturday, 5/22/10
I drove to Mountain Therapeutics and met up with Laura. We rode 8 miles in just about an hour – partly along Salmon Creek Trail and partly on the road. The trail was incredibly SOGGY! We decided it was added resistance.

Sunday, 5/23/10
June and I went for a training ride – 10 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes. More hill training! We took Westoak over to High Prairie, came down McFarland and back again on Westoak. Nice ride!

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I will be posting on here from now on about my exercise so I can keep track of my rides by tagging the entry with the Exercise tag. This post will include mileages and activities as far back as I can go on my MyFace account, and then I’ll post here from now on! I’m pretty sure I’m missing a couple of days, but here’s a good-ish record for starters!

5/17/10 14.5 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes. Mill Site>FS 19>Westfir Road.

5/15/10 15+ miles, 2 hours, 20 minutes. 5821>5828>Alpine>5828>5821. Hellish uphill! Fun single track.

5/15/10 15+ miles, 5821, out & back.

5/11/10 12- miles, 5828

5/10/10 13+ miles, 5821

5/6/10 13.25 miles, <90 minutes, Westfir>FS Fitness Trail>LaDuke Road>Greenwaters>Hwy58>Westfir

5/2/1012.5 miles, Westfir>Greenwaters>Pub>Westfir (all via Westoak)

5/1/10 9.5 miles, +2.5 mile walk

4/30/10 10 miles (?) Westoak>Oakridge>Westfir (via Hwy 58)

4/24/10 10 miles, 5828>Alpine>Westfir Tie. My first ride since I got the bike “tuned up” with knobby tires, etc.

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