Well, Sydney decided tonight was the night to let go of the training wheels. She begged her dad all day to teach her and after about 4 hours of putting her off, he finally said yes. So we all dutifully traipsed outside to watch. Joe took the training wheels off and gave the tires a little extra air while Sydney, with great seriousness, strapped on her knee pads, elbow pads and her helmet. I use the term *helmet* loosely because it is now nothing more than the styrofoam insert from her pink Barbie helmet! After getting all geared up, she asked me if there was some kind of pad to protect her belly. I assured her she would be fine and off we went.
After lots of discussion about who was the one actually running through the cul-de-sac behind her bike, I finally got elected (much to the delight of our neighbors, I am sure). I put one hand under her seat, steadied her handle bars and off she went. To make a long story short (too late!), after an hour and a half of falling to the asphalt, dodging parked cars and her sister (who decided she needed to ride, too), she FINALLY got it! Woohoo!
Granted, she just goes around in a circle to the right at this point! But either way, she's doing it alone and she couldn't be prouder of herself. After she realized she was going it alone, she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. She pumped her hands into the air and squealed for joy after she got herself stopped. It was, I have to say, one of the greatest moments I've ever had. Pure joy!
After lots of discussion about who was the one actually running through the cul-de-sac behind her bike, I finally got elected (much to the delight of our neighbors, I am sure). I put one hand under her seat, steadied her handle bars and off she went. To make a long story short (too late!), after an hour and a half of falling to the asphalt, dodging parked cars and her sister (who decided she needed to ride, too), she FINALLY got it! Woohoo!
Granted, she just goes around in a circle to the right at this point! But either way, she's doing it alone and she couldn't be prouder of herself. After she realized she was going it alone, she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. She pumped her hands into the air and squealed for joy after she got herself stopped. It was, I have to say, one of the greatest moments I've ever had. Pure joy!
Way to go, Syd!
No comments:
Post a Comment