goodbye, training wheels!

I learned to bike at a ripe old age of 14. The fear of getting hurt prevented me from learning a few years prior. But a week before I was to leave the Philippines to reside in America, I decided I must learn. And I did. At 6 years old, Big M is already older than when most kids learn to bike, so we had to start soon! I certainly didn't want him to learn when I did.

When Big M turned 6 weeks ago, I thought it's as good a time as any to use the bike without training wheels. We had to buy a new one that day (his bike prior is a motorcycle-looking one that was too heavy and too tall). I tried to get a Walmart employee to take the training wheels off but they said I had leave the bike and someone will call me when it was done. Screw that! I brought it home and took them off my self. Then Big M and I, and Little M went to the park.

I looked for a spot on the trail with a very tiny decline, set Little M's stroller to the side and gave Big M a tiny push. To my surprise he stared pedaling and he was off! He panicked when he thought he was going to fall in a ditch so he tried to hop off the bike. He hit his stomach on the handle, which couldn't have felt good. But we and I were so excited, he brushed it off. After that, every push was a success. Forty minutes into our session and he was able to start without my help and was biking a very long distance. At this time I was running after him while pushing Little M. I must have looked like a fool chasing a 6yr old on a bike. :)

Big M said the "rocket bike" (the work rocket is printed on the bike) made him learn very fast. I told him, "No, Buddy. It was all you!"

spent more but had lots of fun

On Labor Day we decided not to fight the crowds and go biking in the park instead, and it would be cheaper. But the girls have outgrown their trikes so we needed to buy bikes and helmets. But the 2 bikes and 3 helmets ended up costing more than going out, but we definitely had fun, that is, after the girls figured out how to pedal. We somehow didn't anticipate that pedaling would be a problem. Big M went on ahead and had to wait for the rest of us, while Daddy worked with K, and I worked with J. They both put weight on the pedals backward which not only prevented them from going forward, we couldn't even push them forward. After a few minutes, we switched girls, and after much frustration, I was able to help K finally get it. So K was cruising along and Daddy and J were far behind. Daddy was about to lose it, so we switched again so I could work with J. I was so frustrated I just ended up laughing like a lunatic. Then she finally got it! So for the second half of our time, we were able to walk while the 3 kids biked. While waiting for all of us to catch up, Big M hunted for bugs. He found a cricket which he planned on scaring me with.



Thank goodness the cricket had other plans and hopped off before getting to me. Big M then proceeded to look for his cricket friend. When they were reunited, cricket hitched a ride on Big M's back.

Big M's bike was inherited from Daddy's friend. He loves it because it looks like a motorcycle. He gets to be a cool dude. He still needs training wheels though. We don't allow him to bike nearly enough to work on balance. I'm planning on making the trip to the park a weekly event, so hopefully he can master his balance soon enough.



About a quarter through the path when the girls have mastered pedaling, the kids were soon raising each other to be in the front. Thankfully we didn't have to work on steering!

The weather was not as hot as previous days and because we went to the park early at 9:30. By 10 it was getting warm so we set up a blanket and had some snack, and to check for stinky diaper. Little M quiet the entire time. He was enjoying the sights and sounds.

Little M scratches his face very hard at night!

By 11am when the temperature was hitting 80 ish, we let the kids play in the playground and then hightailed out of there to get ice cream!

The kids had a lot of fun. They've been wanting to go outside, but it's just been so hot. We are starting to hover in the 9o's now, so maybe, hopefully, it'll cool down soon.

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balance bike - a bike without a pedal

A few months ago, we've decided to get Curious George a balance bike for his birthday. Balance bikes are bikes without pedals in order to teach little ones to balance. A bike with training wheels doesn't really do much to teach kids. Balance bikes run anywhere from $100 to upwards of $300. But since our family is now in the poor house, we have to do it the cheap way. We bought a $35 12-inch bike at Wal-Mart and Daddy removed the pedal. Actually, arriving at what size bike to get Curious George ruined the surprise. We measured his stance and went to the store, but that didn't quite work so we had to bring him in. And of course we couldn't get him out of the store without one. So with much negotiation, we finally just broke down and gave him an early present. Which then ruined one more thing - the pedal. He loved pedaling around the store, that when Daddy surprised him the next day with the bike with missing pedal and training wheels, all hell broke lose. And the fact that he didn't sleep well the night before made the 'hell' even worse.

But after the nap, we were able to convince him to try the bike without the pedal with the promise that Daddy would put the pedal and training wheels back on if he just but try first.

Here is what happened:

As a balance bike, he should be able to put both feet flat on the ground, so this is just a tad too high. But Daddy couldn't make it any lower. Still, he did very well. We are very proud of Curious George. This video includes me screaming with excitement about his little run of balancing so I had to cover it up with pretty music. :0) After about half an hour, Daddy finally put the pedal and training wheels back on, at which point, Curious George became a speed-demon.

Unfortunately, it rained the next day so we had to occupy Curious George another way. Here is Daddy and son bonding over Lego.