Friday, August 19, 2011

Beware the biker gang of Cinnamon Ridge Circle!

Last night as I was sitting outside with the boys while they were playing in the yard and riding bikes, I noticed a strange thing. I wasn't hearing the noise that normally comes from the training wheels very often while Xander was riding his bike.

I paid close attention as he rode from the circle all the way down the hill to the bottom where our driveway is, and my eyes confirmed what I was hearing, he wasn't leaning to one side or the other at all! So I invited Xander to bring his bike to me after I grabbed my adjustable crescent wrench, and this was the final product:


I thought for sure he would fight me or freak out or cry or throw a fit because sometimes change is hard for Xander, but he actually seemed kind of stoked that I had this level of confidence in him.


I told him to go grab his helmet because these bikes can go pretty fast without training wheels and the likelihood of him crashing just increased a great deal. Notice Daschle looking on. He must've been thinking, "This kid is freaking crazy."


So this is Xander (above) all ready to go with his helmet on and training wheels off. After this shot we took his bike up to the top of the driveway which has a slight decline down to the street. I held the bike while he got on and once he was situated I gave him a shove and he was immediately giggling because our theory proved correct: HE COULD RIDE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS!!!!

He made it 20 or 25 feet out of the driveway, before he forgot to keep peddling and tipped over, but he didn't fall down and didn't get hurt. He was all smiles as he walked his bike back up the driveway to try again.

The next goal was to get him to ride down the street from the circle end. We tried him on the sidewalk but he kept riding into the grass and kept getting stuck and tipping over and was frustrated. I thought the sidewalk was a good idea because if he did crash he could do it in the grass. Didn't work that way though. So I put him in the middle of the circle and told him to ride down the street into our driveway.

He was a little worried about how fast he might get going but I changed the subject and tried to help him get pumped up again. It worked!!! He made it all the way down the street and was able to slow down enough at the end that he just tipped over instead of crashing and burning.

Here he is the second or third time he made it down the hill, this time with a huge amount of confidence and actually peddling hard to go as fast as he could:


Xander was then officially inducted into and became an official member of the Cinnamon Ridge (our street) biker gang.



It was amazing to see how happy and thrilled he was at his newest accomplishment and conquest. His confidence has been in the clouds since then and he is so proud of himself, like I am so proud of him. I love that little guy and the little man he is becoming. We have never had this strong or deep of a connection before.

Here is a quick movie I made in iMovie from a bunch of video clips I shot last night from my iPhone:


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