Look ma! No training wheels!

Hulk passed a childhood milestone yesterday and let me take the training wheels off of his bike - for good!

He is so proud of himself :)
I am pretty proud of him too.

I can't remember ever not knowing how to ride a bike. Some of my earliest childhood memories are riding my bike next to my dad while he runs. My parents tell stories about how I would ride my bike around our apartment while they studied for school.

Teaching Hulk how to ride a bike is one of the hardest things I have done as a parent. I couldn't understand why he could not push the pedals of his bike around to propel himself forward. Hulk is generally un-coordinated, so it really should not have been a surprise. And he goes at his own pace, if you try to rush him I swear he just slows down.

It's so frustrating.

But when teaching him to ride his bike, he would get going and J and I would become really excited because FINALLY he was moving but then Hulk would intentionally stop the bike so he could talk to us. And we would groan and say, "buddy, you can talk AND ride at the same time!"

That was two years ago.

Last year we tried taking his training wheels off because we thought he was ready but he didn't have the confidence yet and after one unsuccessful try he refused to touch his bike again until we put the training wheels back on.

The training wheels on Hulk's bike are nifty in that you can raise or lower them. After the failed attempt to remove them we raised one of them so that it only touched the ground if the bike tipped. A few weeks ago I raised the other training wheel. That same day I mentioned to Hulk that he hadn't used his training wheels at all (they hadn't touched the ground while he was riding) except for when he turned.

I think that excited him and gave him confidence because he agreed to have his training wheels taken off and it's just been a matter of finding the time to take them off and do a practice ride with him.

Yesterday, the stars aligned in his favor.

I helped him the first time he started on his own but after that he had the confidence and ability to do it by himself.