The Lee Family: Goodbye, Training Wheels!!!!!

Yesterday we went to Meeting, had lunch at Uncle Julio's, stopped by the house to let Buddy out and change clothes (Olivia dumped an entire glass of water on her lap while sitting on my lap so we were both wet), and then headed to Casa Mañana to watch Charlotte's Web, which was really a lot of fun. Both girls loved it and it was a really fun performance.

After the play, we headed home where the girls spent the afternoon riding their bikes in the backyard by the pool. At one point, CK stopped Sofia and removed her training wheels, and she was NOT a fan! She got upset and said that I'd promised her that we wouldn't remove them until she was ready. I explained to her that we should remove them for the afternoon and see how it goes since she rode all the way to the grocery store and back on Saturday without relying on her training wheels at all. Although her training wheels are on the ground while she rides, she is completely balanced while she rides and really doesn't need them. Of course, she didn't love this idea at all. CK took her bike out front and told her that he would hold onto the back of her bike seat while she rode and would not let her fall. She finally agreed to get on her bike but was not happy about it. CK held onto the back of her seat while Olivia tried to help by pushing her back and giving her encouragement while they ran down the sidewalk. I decided to head to the grocery store for a few things and let CK deal with the biking efforts. Knowing she was tired, frustrated at her training wheels being removed, and probably hungry, I figured nothing would come of the attempt to get her to ride and that we'd have to try again then next day. Instead, after being at the grocery store for 45 minutes, CK sent me a video of Sofia riding around the cul-de-sac all by herself with a huge smile on her face! I couldn't believe it! When I made it home shortly after seeing the video, Sofia was riding around the cup-de-sac by our house and loving it. CK told me that she rode solo shortly after I left and that she only needed a little help getting up on her seat and started and also used the curb to stop herself which she'll need to work on. She said she's afraid of hills (going up as well as down) but we explained that she'll find out that they are really easy. She enjoyed riding her bike so much that she didn't even want to go inside as it became dark outside!!

That night, as I tucked her in she said she was falling asleep and her eyes snapped open because she realized that maybe she'd forget everything she learned that day about riding without training wheels. I told her about the saying "it's like riding a bike" and explained that now that she knows how to ride by herself she'll always remember it! She was still a little worried she'd forget how to ride her bike but went to sleep.

This morning, having today off for President's Day, she came down the stairs at 8am wearing her "biking clothes" and ready to ride! Of course, it's 33 degrees and windy out but she headed out front with her bike regardless. Of course she hadn't forgotten how to ride her bike and loved riding around the neighborhood. It was short lived because of the cold though. All day, she pestered me about riding our bikes to Starbucks and back. The weather never got above 36, so I told her that I'd be happy to ride with her one afternoon after school when the weather is better. Plus, I told her that day light savings is coming which means we'll be able to ride our bikes to school and back before long. She agreed to wait on our ride to Starbucks and instead rode around the neighborhood again that afternoon, but was cold after just a few minutes. She's so excited to know how to ride her bike without training wheels! It's so cute!

CK trying to convince Sofia to try a training wheel-free ride