Good bye training wheels!

We have been talking with Ethan for awhile now that this Spring he was going to learn to ride his bike with no training wheels. He has been very nervous about this. He really hasn't ridden his bike much because he didn't like that training wheels were uneven and it would rock a little as he rode it.

Last Friday, the 20th, was walk/ride your bike to school. As we were leaving Preschool, I brought to Ethan's attention that one of his good buddies was riding his bike with no training wheels. Of course, Ethan was quick to point out that Connor's mom let him wear knee and elbow pads...along with his helmet. So, of course, I asked Ethan if he would be willing to learn how to ride with no training wheels if he had knee and elbow pads. He took me up on my offer. So, that weekend while we were in Bellingham we picked up a set of protective pads.

This afternoon, while the girls were gone spending time with my mom, we told Ethan it was time. He was so excited to learn. I thought for sure we may have a little resistance. He jumped in to help Jason get the training wheels off. The excitement was almost too much. We got all of his gear on and went for it.

He took off riding his first attempt. Jason held on for a short bit and then just let go.

The trick now is getting Ethan to continue pedaling fast enough to keep himself balanced and going. It was a bitter sweet moment to watch my baby riding his bike. I am hoping that we will be able to get him a bigger bike this summer. He is growing like a weed and really is ready for a bigger bike size wise but learning on a bigger bike would be harder and I don't want to discourage him.