BI-cycle

I taught my 5 year old how to ride a two wheeler by herself this morning. It has been a gradual process. In May we got her a bicycle with training wheels a little earlier than her birthday to coincide with a family trip. Anyway....she got pretty good at riding with training wheels. Shortly after getting our dog (in June)I realized the best way for me to enjoy walking the dog would be to take her on bike rides with us. Every morning we hop on our bikes and ride around the neighborhood. Since she has put so many miles into her bicycle these days, her training wheels are pretty beat up. They are so much so that most of the ride, I watch her balance on the tires and her training wheels don't touch the ground. This morning, I decided now was the time to take those babies off. Off they came, and on she rode! Stopping and starting is a little more involved, but she is catching on quickly. Wow... she beat me at riding a bike by about 2 years. GO MEL!

More importantly though - I felt such a HUGE sense of accomplishment. Even more than I do with watching them take their first steps. I TAUGHT my daughter how to ride a two-wheeler! From the time I put into our walks in the morning, I was helping her learn how to ride without the assistance of training wheels. SO SO SO SO proud of her. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched her ride around the block. Her sense of accomplishment probably much matched mine as she wore a HUGE smile on that little face of hers as she showed her mom AND dad how she can ride a bike. Being able to say that her father was there to see her ride for the first time without training wheels is something that means so much to me. I am immensely grateful for that blessing.

I will snap a photo and post it soon.