Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Another childhood rite of passage - PASSED!

Billy is having an incredible summer and year when it comes to "ticking off" childhood rites of passage - learning to read, losing teeth and now, the monster of them all?! ..... NO TRAINING WHEELS:)
We have been trying to convince him, all summer, that he can do this ... ride a two-wheeler. To no avail. He believed that he could "go faster" with the training wheels on (and it IS all about speed, isn't it?!) Kay even joined forces with us...."if you THINK you can do it, you can DO it". Overall a great life philosophy but we ARE a bit concerned that its her philosophy already at an early age 8. She could get seriously hurt.

After all our biking in the Netherlands and being my navigator/turn signaler, he must have convinced himself to give it a go.
Sunday we grabbed his bike and headed out back to the secret spot (neighbors enclosed tennis court) for some lessons. He was FABULOUS! He was riding a two wheeler after the 1st 2 minutes. He learned to stop in the 1st 5 minutes, able to turn left in the 1st 10 min's. Turning right and starting without help were a bit of an issue, but he was HOOKED. He insisted on riding his bike all night and we had to drag him in at 8:30pm with promises of a bike ride on Monday.

Monday night, he's bugging me to go with him for HOURS...I finally acquiesce and we are off for a 20 min bike around the neighborhood. Now, he can start without help and is figuring out how to turn right. He even has visions of motocross and racing in his future. He "wishes he had a big bike and could go with me on really long rides. This is SO fun!". We stopped by all the neighbors houses to show off and I have to admit, he rides like a pro.

Ahhh...our little motor head.
You are awesome Billy!