ELENA GOT HER FIRST BIKE TODAY!!! Can you tell I'm excited? I was so stoked I had to call me Mom like 5 seconds after I bought it. lol. I'm more excited than Elena is. After 3 seconds on the bike she was ready to get off. The 3rd try was a lot better though.
The bike is a Strider Running Bike. It's a really small bike, perfect for toddlers, that has no pedals. It's supposed to help them learn balance faster. From everything I've read, it's true. There are many kids who started this bike at 18 - 24 months old and by 3 are riding regular big kid bikes. My hope is that it will help Elena get more confidant in not only her bike balance but her walking balance as well. She walks fine but she's very hesitant still and her balance is bad. If she changes from carpet to tile she almost falls. I'm not surprised by that though. Balance is kind of a visual thing.
She has tried her bike about 3 times today. The first 2 times were no more than 3 minutes long. The 3rd time we went outside and I held onto her so she'd get how it was supposed to work. She liked it as long as I held on. hhhmmm. I also sang to try to encourage her to walk with teh bike. That's what we did when teaching her to walk so I thought it would help. She just kind of marched in place. I can see a tiny improvement though, like she's not falling over the second I let go, so I'm optimistic. I know it will take time. I bought it for her now, instead of at Christmas, because I wanted her to be able to ride it before the snow came. Maybe by then she'll be a pro!
