2 wheelin'!!

well, he finally did it...eli finally decided to take off and ride his bike without training wheels. it's been a long time comin'. since the beginning of the summer, jerry decided to test him out and took off the training wheels to try to teach him. what eli didn't realize at the time when he agreed to "try" it was that jerry wasn't gonna put them back on...ever. eli wasn't too happy about this as he totally enjoyed riding his bike and was completely confident with those little helper wheels. eli and jerry are both lions though (as the book Taming the Family Zoo talks about) and this factor made it almost impossible for them to agree that daddy letting go of the bike while eli practiced was okay and falling was part of practicing. eli pretty much just gave up on the bike idea and has been a big wheel master ever since. until wednesday...i told eli we were gonna practice so that when we take our walks at night, maybe we could ride our bikes together instead. his big wheel normally goes on the walks, but it's been sounding a little scary lately and i'm afraid it's gonna bust a wheel off and i'll be stuck carrying a big wheel and pushing a double stroller with over 10o lbs of boys. so, after eli asked for a popsicle, i told him he could have one after he practiced with me. he agreed and after a little talk about balancing the bike and a reminder that steering a bike is pretty much the same concept as steering a big wheel or his gator, off he went. one push from momma and a little confidence building along the way, he finally got it!! he did fall, but i quickly helped him, encouraged him, and off he went again. i knew he finally felt what riding a bike is supposed to feel like when he was yelling "who hoo's" and "look at me's" to all of the neighbors as he dodged mailboxes and cars. he did almost take a neighbor's mailbox out once, but for the most part is a little dare devil now. i'm so proud of him, not just for learning to ride his bike, but for trusting mommy and daddy, and most of all himself, that he could do it. falling IS part of learning and he realized that...it just took awhile...a lesson we ALL could learn from :)