Two Wheels Instead of Four

N has started riding his bicycle without the training wheels as of last Monday. We had removed the training wheels in May in an effort to have him learn how to ride without them. His enthusiasm for such lasted about a week. When it did not become easy, he asked that they be put back on. We never did it. Then, over the course of the summer, his bicycle ended up in a newly constructed closet with dust all over it.

The past month or so, he found it in the garage, where the carpenters had moved it in order to put trim in the new closet. One morning, he had gone outside to play for a few minutes while I gathered the final items for our trek to school. (any other moms feel like a pack mule most mornings?) I came outside to find that he was trying to ride it, but that nobody bothered to dust it off and he had layers of dust on his clean school clothes. So, I told him how proud of him I was, then requested that he return to his room to change.

That day after work and school, he wanted to practice riding his bicycle. He would make it a little way, but could never really get himself started. All week, he would practice for about 5 min in the mornings.

Last Monday, he wanted to practice after school again. He seemed to somehow understand how to get himself started. He would make it about three feet, then lose his balance. He rode almost every day after school last week. This weekend, he was outside all the time. Sunday, he rode around the block four separate times (I had J in the jogging stroller) and he could navigate the steep hills - both down and up - all over the neighborhood. I am quite proud of him!

Now, he needs to learn to tie his shoes.