Biking

Note: unfortunately, we only got videos of the bike learning and they are too big for this. Sigh. 

Got one of Emma, now to take one of Savannah. 

Several weeks ago, Savannah told me she wanted to learn to ride a two-wheel bike. It came out of the blue just like that and I believe was related to the purple (her favorite color) two-wheel bike that was waiting for her when she got big enough. So we took it out and got going. She was very self-motivated and did really well. I'd run along her and then by the end of the first day could let go for a few seconds. By the end of the second day could let got for longer. And by the end of the 3rd day she pretty much had the hang of it. If, of course, she could get on the bike and get started which was challenging with such a larger bike than she was used to. By the end of the 5th day, she could get on and stop (another challenging point). She was still a little unreliable though. After biking with a little friend and getting a little frustrated, my friend suggested we take the training wheels off her smaller bike till she was really solid with everything. I didn't think Savannah would go for it, but after a little wreck that day, she was ready. It only took another day for her to be cruising--no help needed ever. I kind of thought she wouldn't want to go back to her big bike, but she did in just a couple days and, interestingly, after mastering it on that smaller bike, she totally got it on the bigger bike. I'm sure there's a larger life lesson in there somewhere.

Once Savannah got the two-wheel bike down, Emma decided she wanted to bike on the training wheels bike. Oh my. She couldn't move the pedals right and/or steer and/or look up while she rode (she watched the ground). I was kind of like, "Uh, just use the scooter." (Did I mention I got shin splints helping Savannah learn to ride her bike from all my running alongside her 700 times every day for a week?) I felt like Emma just wanted me to follow her around pushing. But then the girls were out together one day and the next day there Emma was riding her big wheel all over the place--mastered the steering and pedals and all. Apparently, Elizabeth and Savannah had taught her. A day or two after that, she had the training wheels bike figured out too (although she still sometimes looks down at the ground instead of in front of her).

So now everyone can ride a bike. It's kind of exciting.

Yesterday we went on a family bike ride. It was more challenging than our cul-de-sac, so the little girls rode in the bike trailer, but still we were all able to go on a real family bike ride on a real trail. It was very exciting.

The kids are definitely growing up a bit and while the teen years are still terrifying to me, I find that I feel ready to move into bigger kid stages so that's good. I find I'm kind of enjoying having the kids gain more and more independence and skill.