Two Wheelin'

I have been meaning on getting Brody up on two wheels for some time now.  He was really good on his strider and could go long periods of time balancing on two wheels.  After a few months on his tricycle, I could tell he was ready for a new challenge.  Travel, pneumonia (poor kid) and me trying to wait for Chris to be around for bike riding kept pushing the time line back.  Finally I decided not to wait any longer and I took the boys to the park after picking them up from school.

Knowing the boys' personalities, I figured Brody would be game to try no training wheels without any convincing but Brady would need some coaxing.  I also figured it wouldn't work out well for any of us if both boys wanted to try two wheelin' at the same time.  That being said, I still wanted Brady to have a mile stone he could be proud of so we decided that Brody would try removing his training wheels and Brady would try riding with his training wheels lifted by an inch or so.

Since both boys were on balance bikes until December when they got their "big boy bikes" it was pretty easy for Brody to remember what to do.  I removed the training wheels, told him to start riding and within seconds he was balancing and riding by himself.  I may have been more shocked than he was because I had been expecting it to take longer than that!  He had absolutely no problem balancing but he did have a terrible time steering.  I was running next to him and had to grab him time and time again before he steered into benches, picnic tables, off stairs, etc.  The park we were at had relatively few obstacles, or so I though, until Brody steered into every single one of them.  In an effort to end on a high note, I got the idea to grab a big stick and draw a very long time in the dirt trail.  For the last few minutes we played "stay as close to the line as you can".  Both boys did pretty great and we left feeling very proud of ourselves.

The next morning at 6:30 the very first thing of of Brody's mouth was "Mom, can I ride my two wheeler?".  I had plans for us to go to the park again later in the day and when we got there, Brody hopped on his bike and took off.  He was noticeably better at steering, almost as if he had been working on it in his sleep (I know consolidation is a thing, but it amazing to see it happen in real life)!  He "got it" and by the end of our play date he was a fully capable bike rider.  Once the newness of Brody's move to two wheels has worn off, it will be Brady's turn!

Side funny story: We were riding with our best buddies who are triplets.  Seeing 5 four year olds on bikes is really quite a sight.  A father and son biking duo road by and the dad asked me in a hopefull tone, "Is this a toddler bike club?!".  I laughed and told him it was just a set of triplets and a set of twins riding together and he laughed but was disappointed.  I guess we do look like a club or gang whenever we go anywhere!