Spring Break: Day 2: New Bike

For SOOOO long, Blake REFUSED to have much to do with a bike/tricycle/big wheel. And when he did choose to get near/on one, he REFUSED to have ANYTHING to do with the pedals.

It started with his tricycle, which he would sit on and push himself around with his feet on the ground, and whine that the pedals were hitting him in the legs. But he wouldn't pedal.

So we got him a big wheel. We thought, "he CAN'T push this with his feet, it's too close to the ground". But he somehow managed too push with his feet instead of pedaling, complaining the WHOLE time that it was SOOO hard to make it go. But he wouldn't pedal!!

Last summer when Trev got his big boy bike with no training wheels, I hoped and wished that B would want to ride T's old bike with the training wheels. He did, but HE WOULDN'T PEDAL! Finally, in September, as T ditched the training wheels, B started to pedal! I was so excited!!!

After a long winter, we've been getting out to our bikes a few times on the warmer spring days, and I was SOOO worried that B would go back to his old ways....whining, not pedaling, not wanting to ride a 'big boy bike'. Thank goodness, I was wrong!

Instead, he was whining that he was TOO BIG for the little 12" bike that he was riding around on. (And honestly, he was too big for it. He's practically as tall as T!) He was begging and demanding a bigger bike, and NO training wheels!!!

That's my kid... he's not ready, until he's ready, and then he's TOTALLY ready...RIGHT NOW!!!

So Saturday, Daddy and Blake went and got a new bike (I found a $20 off deal at TRU for this weekend only!). And today they put it together and B got to ride it!

As excited as he will ever look for the camera. I'm just glad he actually looked at the camera!!

The boys helping Daddy build.
Putting the pedals on!

The Rattlesnake! The cool name was the clincher!
But he decided he did want the training wheels, at least for now.

Maybe by the end of summer we'll take them off!

HAPPY Friday!

Wow....what a really awesome day it was around here!!! Which is a really nice contrast to the semi-crummy week we've had (whiny, disobedient children).

The day started off with low expectations. Trev and Izzy have slowly been showing signs of a cold, and this morning I woke up with a scratchy throat and stuffy nose. Some zinc drops and echinacea tea have helped me feel better, and hopefully I'm beating the cold! Daddy didn't sleep well the night before so he worked from home to get an extra hour of sleep.

Trevor went off to school, Blake Izzy and I laid low and hung out around the house. After Izzy's nap we headed to the resale store to drop off some stuff and get 1 item....a winter coat for T. Initially I was ticked, as they were no longer accepting donations for the day. But then I hit the jackpot and found a great coat for T, and Izzy's Halloween costume. She's going to be a banana, which goes along with the boys costumes....but I'm keeping those a secret! I also got a winter coat for her, and jammies for Blake. Very successful trip.

We spent the afternoon doing much of nothing. The boys played hot wheels and legos, Izzy napped and I even snuck in a short nap! After that, Daddy 'commuted' home from the office upstairs, and we all spent some time outside. Blake decided to practice riding his bike, and he's gotten really good in a week! He made it up and down the driveway a handful of times, turned around at the bottom on his own, and didn't need a push up the slight incline coming back up the drive!!! Most of all, he was excited and happy about doing it and wanted to ride. We even managed a ride down the street to the cornfield!!! We'll be going round the block soon!!

Meanwhile, Trevor has spend the last week whining about not wanting to ride his bike. Not even the removal of Wii priveledges has enticed him to ride. Wow! Today, we eventually got him on the bike. How? By agreeing to put 1 training wheel on....yes one. He rode and rode and rode....with Daddy by his side the whole time. About 5 runs on the driveway, and then it was out to the street for a few laps up and down, and eventually a long ride down to the cornfield. Daddy sure got a running workout today!!! And he loved it, and he's ready to do 20 more laps tomorrow so he says!!! I'm just glad we got him back on the darn bike!!

All that is good, great even. But the high point of the night was actually a surprise. At about 5:30 a neighbor kid, E, showed up to play with T. Last year they went to preschool together and were good friends for a while, but things have changed. E wants to ride bikes around the block or go back to his house. I'm not okay with this as I think they need a little more supervision than they would get at E's house. E doesn't seem to like our house rules (like no Wii at 1:30 in the afternoon on a beautiful summer day) and doesn't seem to want Blake around playing with them, which is what B and T are VERY used to.

Anyway....E showed up, T went out to play with him, with the instructions to play in the backyard. Well, they never made it to the backyard. E wouldn't go. He kept trying to get Trev out on his bike, to the point that he was trying to force open our garage door to get T's bike out!! T kept telling him no, I want to play in the back yard, but no dice. The back and forth played out for 15 minutes. At times, we could see (as we peeked out the window at them) T getting visibly upset at E, the body language was obvious. T would keep starting to come inside, and then something would be said and he'd go back again and try talking to E.

The last straw was when E picked up some rocks from our garden (decorative ones) and started throwing them out into the street. T told him not to do it, and E wouldn't listen. T was SO upset, and started crying. So Daddy went out to bail him out and ask E not to do that anymore. T asked E to go home, and when Daddy repeated it, he finally went.

So why is this the high point of my great day??? Because when push came to shove, when between a rock and a hard place, Trevor knew what the right and good choices were and he stuck to them. I don't think he called E any names, or said many bad words, he never tried to push him (like he does to Blake often!) and he stood up for what he wanted and didn't want to do, and held his ground.

And after talking to Daddy and I for a while after E went home, I think he really understands that we are proud of him for making good choices and for standing up for himself!!! My little boy is really growing up!

Bikes

For his birthday, T got a new 18" bike. He's ridden it about 2 times. Since it has no training wheels, this is mostly my fault. He needs my help to learn to ride it. We've tried to practice, but with Izzy etc. it's been tough to find time.

Yesterday we got out to practice while Iz slept. T did great, when I finally convinced him to try. Convincing him was not one of my better parental moments....it wasn't pretty! But he got out there, and he did great! He balanced and rode up and down the street with me letting go periodically. Eventually he was going about 50 feet without me holding him. Now to grow his confidence. Of course, since I was holding him most of the time, there are no photos!!

Since T got a new bike, his old one became Blake's. B seems to have no issue with hand-me-downs. Things that were Trevor's are cool, no problem that they are old, used, etc. So now he has a bike. However, the issue still remains that B does not like to pedal. He doesn't use pedals on his tricycle or his big wheel...instead he pushes on the ground with his feet. So I hoped and wished that he would suddenly want to pedal and use a big boy bike.

After more of the wonderful convincing skills by Mommy (I'm good at convincing reasonable people, but try reasoning with 3 and 5 year olds....its tough!), he agreed to ride up and down the driveway once. He did it with lots of help....he's confused about which direction to push the pedals to go forwards. But eventually we got there. And today, up and down the driveway with almost no help!

B on his "new" bike...

B's motivation... Trevor yelling "Blake come knock me down like a bowling pin!"