Well, our Bella finally took off on her bike this summer. We were thrilled, as Max has been riding circles around her for years now. She needed to do it in her own time, however, and once she was ready she literally did it on her own. Gavin and I have been utilizing traditionally means of bike-riding training (holding onto the back of her seat or sweatshirt) for a long time. It was quite miserable for all involved - as she would cry the entire time we were hanging onto her wobbling form, screaming, "It's so hard, I'm so scared, I'm going to fall, don't let go, don't let go, don't let go." Meanwhile, her father or I, were running along behind her yelling, "it isn't hard, think positive, don't be such a wimp." This was fun for neither Bella nor her parents. We finally gave up (after one serious tumble that resulted in a hospital trip and a long run of several antibiotics for an infection that resulted from one of the falls I took while "training" Bella - I never claimed to be graceful).
One afternoon in early July, Miss Bella decided that the problem was everyone ELSE was making her nervous. So, she took her bike outside one afternoon (I'm clearly behind on blogging, since it is now the end of August), put her feet on either side of the bike, carefully lined the pedals up in a way that made her feel comfortable, and...took off. She's been riding like crazy ever since, although she hasn't mastered the brakes (she is required to wear old shoes as she uses the toes of her shoes to stop) and it still takes her a good two minutes to line those pedals up just so before she starts. We are very proud of our Little Miss Independent. Go Bella!
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