lena and her bike

In the fall of last year, we purchased a "balance bike" for Lena.  Balance bikes have no pedals and no training wheels so they're supposed to teach young ones how to balance on their bikes and eventually perhaps learn to ride a normal bike a little quicker.

Lena had only had the bike for a month before it got too cold last fall and during that month, all she managed to do was walk with it between her legs.  You can imagine how long a walk around the block would take.

Now that it's spring, we took the bike out again a couple weeks ago - she was sluggish at first but we explained the concept of gliding and low and behold she got it!  It's amazing seeing her zipping around on this thing.  The following video isn't the best example of her skills because she stops, but it goes to show you just how much she's come along.

One of the things I find interesting in parenting is how emotional you get when you see your kid do something outside of your own comfort zone.  Tara understands this from when she witnessed Elodie sing a solo at her birthday party.  When I watch my daughter tool around on her bike, I think about how timid I am of anything mildly fast and it gets me all teary.  Go Lena go!