two wheels.

Guess who else can ride without training wheels now? 

He had been asking for awhile now and we kept putting him off. 

Corey wore his best jeans for the occasion...

It took this little guy about 5 minutes. Seriously. No frustration. No drama. No tears. 

So very different from his big sister. 

But I had an ah-ha moment thinking about the differences between the two.

I did a post a couple years ago about a very frustrating day at swimming lessons and all the amazing things I learned from a book I was reading at the time: Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer? Sophie is a total dreamer. Not a "spacey" kind of dreamer, but an internal perfectionist. They can act like a strong willed child, but if you handle them like a strong willed child, they completely shut down. I changed so many things in my parenting with her after I read this book. (and I really need to read it again!) Just going back and reading some of the quotes I put in that post... they are so her. 

My ah-ha moment? I realized that when things finally clicked for Sophie... when she finally started riding confidently on two wheels... was when Corey took her out to the very end of the bike path. A deserted area with wide open sidewalks and no people. No one was watching her (even neighbors who were inside their house at the time). No one was going to see her fail. And that's when she got it. 

It's amazing to me how two kids from the same family can have such different personalities. 

This little guy has spent hours out in the driveway since then. Cruising up and down. So proud of himself.

Running outside to quietly show off ride by when friends are visiting... even if he's wearing a dress at the time.  :) 

So proud of this little man, but it's just another reminder... he's not so little anymore.