what a day...

s woke up extra early today, and refused to go back to sleep. then z woke up, and i knew i was up for good. today was gymnastics day for z at 9:30. i have to help him in the class, so i wear s in the mei tai. last week my mom watched s for me while i went with z, because the previous week z fell while i was holding s & she got scratched, and the whole thing shook me up. of course with my luck, last week there was little i needed to do to help z, as the balance beam activities were entirely avoided, so it would've been easy to have s with me. today, the main concentrations were on the long running trampoline & the beams. after going down the trampoline (jumping backwards, jumping in/out, bear crawl, etc), the kids were supposed to jump in the foam pit at the end. we were to count to 10, then have the kids crawl out, before going back for another turn on the trampoline. getting out of the foam pit is one of the hardest things for z, and i had to pull him out with both hands, with s on me, crouching down, about 5 times. the rest of the class was beam stuff. this time, i held onto z instead of making him brave it alone. it ensured that he didn't fall at all, but didn't really help him improve his balance beam skills.
after the class i spoke to the teacher, asking if he could please please please move up to the next level so i didn't have to wear s anymore while helping him out. the teacher said she had been meaning to move him up, and that i just need to wait one more week. thank goodness! not sure we'll be able to do a class that is convenient, but we'll see. i also asked about the spring break camp, as i wasn't sure z is old enough for it, but it turns out he is, so i hope to sign him up for a half day for next friday (although with my luck, he'll get sick and have to stay home).
after gymnastics we had to drive to the violin shop in se portland to pick up bows that had been rehaired. an adult student of mine dropped mine & hers off on saturday, and i was to pick them up for both of us, before her friday lesson. the drive over there is 20-30 min, depending on traffic. thank goodness i packed a pb&j sandwich for z, because he was starving & didn't want his normal string cheese after class. when i got to the shop, they told me THEY WEREN'T FINISHED, and it would take at least an hour to complete both. the one guy said he could do one of the bows in about 30 min, so i asked him to do my student's bow, as i don't absolutely need that bow (i have several) in particular. so off i went from the shop, lugging my violin, s in the car seat, and z back to the car. i drove aimlessly for awhile, not quite sure how to spend 30 min pre-nap with two young kids. if the weather had been balmy, it would've been easy to stop to play at a park. however, it was half raining, half snowing, so that simply wasn't an option. i ended up in sellwood near a starbucks, so i found street parking quickly & got everyone out, diaper bag and violin included. this was lucky, as z started hopping around saying he had to pee. we high-tailed it into the starbucks, myself praying that the bathroom would be unoccupied. z & i both used the potty, and s got a diaper change. i purchased milk & a cake-pop for z, and a chocolate chip cookie & iced coffee for myself, and we camped out in the back corner of the store. s started fussing, so i had to whip out the breast feeding cover & get to work. halfway through feeding her, z dropped more than half his cake pop on the floor. i wasn't sure at first that anything had fallen, but i heard a thunk, and after about 30 seconds, decided i better look under the table. sure enough it was there, so i had my awful mommy moment and just broke off a tiny piece of what i hoped was all that hit the floor, and gave the rest back to him to eat. after more than 30 min, i schlepped everyone back to the car: myself, my violin case, the diaper bag, s in her car seat on my arm, my iced coffee, and z in hand. i was so sore from all the schlepping and wearing s on me for a whole hour, but one doesn't have much choice. i thought i was stuck in my parking spot, as there wasn't much room in the first place, and someone had parked even closer behind me, but luckily the people in front of me were coming out of the coffee shop right after us & left before i had even gotten into the drivers seat. i was very lucky to remember my way back to the violin shop, and schlepped everyone back out again (minus the diaper bag & coffee, thank goodness).
it was my LUCKY day, or the luthiers just felt THAT badly for me - two of them had teamed up & got both bows rehaired, so i wouldn't have to make a second trip back out there. i was sooooo thankful. so thankful. so thankful. so thankful. i HATE driving out there, and even more so with two kids. the rest of the day went as smoothly as it can, with a rambunctious 3 yr old who both wanted & didn't want to nap, and a fussy teething 4 month old. i got to spend a couple of hours this evening with neighbor ladies, and it is snowing out, which is quite pretty. i returned just in time to finish putting s to bed. j had already fed her a 4 oz bottle of formula, but she was fussy & wanted to eat more, so i breast fed her. when she finally burped, she spit up at least a quart of liquid. i don't think i've seen her spit up that much. it wasn't spitting up- it was really throwing up. needless to say, i was drenched, she was drenched, and there was a puddle in the chair. i managed to change her without her really waking up, and then i started the millionth load of laundry this week. she just screamed & cried out loud a minute ago, but i managed to soothe her back to sleep without additional feeding. i have a feeling it's going to be a busy night... for now, off to bed.