Two Wheels!!

Whenever we bought Jackson his bike this past spring, he asked for a kickstand. We told him that when he learned to ride his bike with two wheels, we'd go to the store and buy him one. When he figured out how to ride a scooter with two wheels, we started talking about taking his training wheels off. I felt pretty confident that he'd be able to ride his bike without them. Being busy with our move, we never got around to doing it. Friday, the kids and I went on a walk/ride around our neighborhood {I walked and Jackson drove Allison in his Power Wheels truck :) }. We came upon a church parking lot and I told him that it would be a great spot to try riding his bike without his training wheels. He said, "Yeah! Let's do it right now!"

I made him wait until Jason got home. Jason suggested a place on base, but as we were driving there, we came across a stadium parking lot really close to our house and decided to stop there instead. At first, we left his training wheels on but made sure they were as high as they could go. That wasn't challenging, so we took them off. I was a little concerned because it was SO windy...it was even hard for me to hold the video camera still...but it had no effect.

Jason helped him first. He held the seat and the handlebars for one pass across the parking lot and then held only the handlebar. He said that he wasn't helping him but merely holding his hand around the bar without touching it. They went across the parking lot a couple of times and then I got a chance to run beside him. I held the back of his seat just in case he fell {and to give him a secure feeling} but I wasn't helping him. Then I let go of his seat and wrapped my arms in a big circle around him {like a bubble}. He was riding by himself!!! And this all happened in 15 minutes. We were so happy for him!!

He has loved driving cars, tricycles, scooters and bikes since he was a tiny thing. I know he was thrilled with himself. It was amazing to watch him grasp something so effortlessly. And I've observed {through my minimal amount of parenting experience}, that when I let him lead me in his learning and wait for his interest in mastering a skill, it happens with very little effort. His bike-riding was a perfect example.

Getting started:

You can't see them because they were so far away and I was keeping an eye on my little rock-eater, but they were giving each other some kind of high-five, fist pump thing:

Only a couple of falls like this...and they only happened whenever he was trying to get off his bike:

Jason helped him get going...

Let go...

And then he was off!

Allison was such a trooper. That girl finds happiness wherever she is. Jackson is so blessed to have her as a little sister and she is so blessed to have such an affectionate and tenderhearted big brother. Whenever I wasn't pushing her in her car trying to keep up with the boys...

She was playing in the dirt...

Or trying to eat rocks!

Boy, does that girl know when she is doing something wrong! She just looks at me like, "What? Are you going to stop me? Watch. I'm doing this anyway. What are you going to do about it?" And then when I tell her, "No. No." she kicks the drama into high gear and gives me the most pathetic cry...as if I've just broken her heart. It is so funny!

Jason got one of his PT days for sure. He was running all over the place!

After about 30 minutes, Jackson was confident enough to ride around without Jason being by his side:

In this next photo, you can tell that the parking lot wasn't flat. It was sloped. But that didn't seem to affect him at all.

I just can't believe he's riding a bike! Let the fun begin!! Now we can go on family bike rides!! I LOVE to ride my bike!

After riding in the parking lot, we went to buy the promised prize...a kickstand!! {He was actually feeling bad all day...stuffy nose...which you can tell in this photo. However, he wasn't going to allow anything (sickness, wind, sloped parking lot, movie opportunity) to keep him from riding his bike!}

After buying the kickstand, we went and ate pizza at the Mellow Mushroom and then treated ourselves to Nancy's Italian Ice. It was definitely a Friday Family Fun Night!!

Saturday morning, I took the kids downtown to see the dragon boat races while Jason studied.

I thought Jackson would really enjoy watching the boats race on the water. And I think he might have if he would have agreed to eat breakfast and if he hadn't been feeling a little sickly. After a few races though, he was ready to go. I could tell he was hungry and tired and the boats weren't exciting enough for him. As we turned to leave, Allison caught a glimpse of something that she was very interested in:

Dogs! Alli loves dogs! And she does not get that from me. I love animals...from a distance, but there is no way I enjoy them licking on me. How do you think she felt about it?!

Did you notice the little smile on her face? She loves it! It doesn't bother her at all. It bothers me, but I try to let it go. God made her an animal lover and I don't want to do anything to change that.

Do you think I would have benefited from a double stroller? I can't tell you how many times we've rolled like this. I'm a super safe mom.

After a little nourishment at home, the four of us headed out for a bike ride.

This was my first time to ride with Allison. Jason rode with her a few times in Oklahoma while I was teaching my Bradley® classes, but this was my first time and I was so happy about it. She even took a nice little snooze on our ride!