We have been working with her over the past few weeks - knowing she was ready for this "next step" with her bike. But she had been dragging her feet with it. Just not very motivated to try. Karis is normally our very adventurous girl, so this hesitation was rather unusual. But with a little motivation (i.e., a new bike from Grandpa and Grandma!), she gathered up her nervousness and gave it a whirl. We started her off on a tiny little bike the boys learned on (figuring it was much closer to the ground, meaning less likelihood of injuries from falling). And little by little she got better and gained confidence each new day we'd try riding. Now finally this morning we opted to practice in the street. (I know, I know - what was I thinking? But hey, we live in a small town and the traffic by our place is quite minimal. And I was almost paranoidally (is that a word?) watching to make sure no one was within a block or two of our block.) And wow, being in the wide open street made a huge difference! She wasn't confined to a skinny stretch of sidewalk, so was able to weave back and forth and gather her balance better. I had to laugh, because on this little bike she had to really sway and wiggle back and forth at times - so I called her my hula-biker! Ha! Once she was doing well on this little bike, we graduated her to her new big bike, and she did great. She even said it was easier for her on the big bike. Hmmm. Maybe we should have started her on that one from the beginning?? Oh well. At least it's done and we have something to document in the record books. :)
(Of course in these pictures she isn't wearing her helmet.)
Such concentration! Look at her biting her lip.
This one cracks me up. She was yelling, "Move out of the way, Mommy!" But you have to know I was using the zoom lens, so she was actually much farther away from me than it appears. :)
Congrats to our big girl!!
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