The Big Girl Bike

We've been attempting to impress upon Catherine for some time the importance of practicing in order to learn how to do things (she has a tendency to throw her arms in the air in frustration and walk away if she doesn't do something perfectly on the first try).

And wouldn't you know, she might have actually been listening.

Catherine was gifted a REAL bicycle yesterday from her friend Morgan (who upgraded), and the idea of practicing on this bicycle has solely and wholly consumed her since the moment it arrived. If it wasn't for the intermittent rain this weekend, she probably would have logged about 15 hours on it already.


Catherine learned very quickly how to use the back-pedal brakes, and now uses them every couple feet lest she get going too fast. Her average speed right now is probably around 0.2 mph. In fact, Mary can already blow her away on the tricycle.


Since Catherine has her two-wheeler now, Mary has the tricycle all to herself, and she is determined to make good use of it. She figured out that if she has shoes on, and she scoots forward all the way to the handlebars, she can reach the pedals well enough to move the tricycle. With the help of a slight downhill grade, she can get moving pretty well! Steering... steering is going to take a bit more practice.


And Michael will not be left behind in the "learning new things" category. He recently started taking more interest in the things around him, and is currently enthralled with a small musical mirror we put in front of him for tummy time (actually, I put it in front of him and Mary takes it away, but we're working on that). There is a little bear on the front that he is determined to yank off, which Catherine finds hilarious.