My Baby Girl is Getting Big!

A week or two ago, we pulled out the kids' bikes, including a beat up, hand me down, little 12" 2-wheeler. It's a good learning bike - you don't care if it gets crashed or beat up. :) We tried to get Francesca on it to just push off with her feet and drift a few feet - Chris even took the pedals off so they weren't in the way. She did a few times, didn't get very far, and was pretty much done with the bike in 2 minutes. Last weekend, she told Chris to put the pedals back on - something about a bike with no pedals just rubbed her the wrong way. But basically the bike has been languishing in the back of the garage, leaning crookedly against the trash cans.

Yesterday (Friday) while Dominic was in school, the sun came up and it was a beautiful day, so Francesca and I spent a bunch of it outside. (I was weeding, so it wasn't all fun and games, but at least my flower beds look much better!) Anyway, I convinced her to try out the bike. Her confidence wasn't very high - she didn't want to go on the street and puts her feet down when she feels like she's going too fast to which I yell "NO NO NO! You have to use your BRAKES!!!" I have these visions of her snapping her leg. *shiver*

Now, I am not gifted with an abundance of patience. In that sense, I take more after my Dad than my Mom (oh the horrific memories of fear and yelling when learning to drive...). As I was trying to teach her yesterday, neighbors could probably hear my yells of "Pedal pedal PEDAL!!! Don't put your feet down!!! BRAKE!!!" from houses away. And I do admit that I resorted to bribes and even a few threats to basically force her to keep trying for more than 5 minutes. The results... she could pedal the length of the driveway on her own - even a little longer when she wasn't whining!

This morning, we went outside around 9:00 AM to show Chris her accomplishment and guess what - she got even better! Her confidence was noticeably higher, plus she got to show off not only for Chris but for our 7 year old neighbor who was watching from their front door (and who does not ride a 2-wheeler yet). Francesca can go pretty much down the whole street, on the sidewalk (without wobbling into the grass), started going by herself a bunch of times, and even used her brakes a few times! She did so well that we rode down the street to our neighborhood cul-de-sac where she and Dominic rode in circles for quite a while.

I'm so proud of her! Dominic learned to ride a 2-wheeler with no training wheels the summer of '07 - he was almost exactly 4 1/2. Now Francesca can ride one, too, and before her 5th birthday as well! (With a little over 2 months to spare!) I guess my children are gifted with good balance!

Next step - the training wheels will come off her nice Dora bike. Then our little hand-me-down beater bike can move on to the next child in need.

I just couldn't stop smiling as I watched her riding around the neighborhood. I'm definitely a proud mama. :)