Look, Mom! No Training Wheels!

BIG Weekend - Details: #3
Braden learned to ride his bike without training wheels.
David crashed on a kid's bike and hurt himself (but not bad enough to go to the hospital).


A few weeks ago, David took the training wheels off Braden's bike that we have here at home. He tried to ride it once or twice, and pretty much gave up. David ended up putting the training wheels back on before Braden's camping trip with Grammie and Grandpa during the first week of June.

When we got to my dad's house for the Fourth of July weekend, Dad had a new little bike with no training wheels (my dad is a big "junk store" shopper and has 4 or 5 used bikes of different sizes in his driveway). Braden was excited about the new little bike, and really wanted to ride it. He "practiced" over and over again in their driveway. He has bruises all over his shins from using his legs to get the pedals in the perfect position before trying to take off each time. He only managed to get both feet on the pedals and maybe get in one rotation before losing his balance and putting his foot down. He wouldn't let anyone help him, and was determined to do it all by himself. He practiced for a long time Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and again Saturday evening (we took the bike with us over to my grandma's house).





Then, like magic, on Sunday morning, he did it! I was inside trying to get my hair dried before Jamie and Michelle arrived, when David came in and said, you need to come out here and watch your son ride his bike. I was amazed! Here's a video:


If you read the highlights list in the "BIG Weekend" post, then you know that David also rode a bike this weekend. Well... he was riding one of the other bikes in my dad's stash (a youth sized BMX trick bike). He rode it down the street a little way and then turned around to come back. He decided to ride it through the grassy ditch in their front yard, and I guess tried to do a little hop to get up over the other side. I didn't actually see where the bike went, but I heard a thud, and turned around to see David rolling through the grass up over his should and onto his head! I said, "Oh my goodness! Are you OK??" He got up (a little dazed) and went inside. He looked so pale. I know he was in major pain. He had grass all up his right side and a big scratched up area on his forearm. After he got cleaned up and cooled off, we decided that he wasn't injured too badly and just needed an ice pack on his shoulder and some Ibuprofen. He could barely raise his arm up, and said it hurt really bad to move it certain ways. His right hip was also really sore. He made it to dinner that night and fireworks afterward, but I did all the driving, and tried my best to carry Cameron around so he didn't have to. Even today, he is still hurting some. He says as long as he keeps moving, it's not too bad. But, if he sits still for any length of time, he gets really stiff.

After we knew he was OK, we had some good laughs about it. My dad commented to Braden, "See what happens when you try to show off on a bike?" We also discovered that David is not alone. Jamie (Michelle's husband) confessed to doing something very similar not too long ago, and apparently my uncle Billy broke his foot attempting a wheelie when Justin and Ben were younger. So, maybe it just goes with the territory. Your little boy learns to ride a bike, and you make a fool of yourself trying to relive your own childhood. :)

Here's a picture of David and Braden getting ready to take a bike ride around our neighborhood on Monday afternoon. It may not be obvious to anyone else, but I can tell by looking that David is not 100%.