Two Things

There are two things I am pretty adamant that my kids learn how to do and do well.

One is swimming. I want my kids to be confident and safe swimmers. They don't have to be a Michael Phelps, but I want them to hold their own in water. As my post from last week talked about, Evelyn loves swimming and is doing well in lessons, which I am thankful for. Matthew and I will start our Mommy/Baby class next month.

The other thing is riding a bike. I don't know why... but I just want my kids to learn how at an early age and be confident on their bikes. I learned pretty early and have SO many fond memories of riding around my neighborhood and going on family bike rides. Its just something I want for my kids to do, too!

Evelyn hasn't been super interested in this activity. She never got on one of those scooter things when she was a little tyke. We got her a trike when she was two, thinking it was time to get her going. She rode it probably less than 10 times. She just wasn't into it. So.. when she started talking about wanting a princess "big girl" bike for Christmas last year, I was leary about doing it. But we did it, in hopes that maybe this would be the year she would want to/learn how to ride.

It has been a slow go.. she has gotten on it but has had trouble pedaling. She just wasn't strong enough. Because of this, she wasn't wanting to try much. On Monday (the 4th) she wasn't feeling well in the morning so we decided to cancel our plans for that night (insert sad face.. sorry, Ruzzi's!). Of course, she took a long nap and woke up feeling "great"! I decided to make the most of the sunshine and encouraged her to get on her bike and try. She reluctantly agreed. It took a bit, but once she figured out how to pedal the right way, she was OFF!

Go Evelyn Go!

She still needs a push on the uphills, but she is doing great! She is excited about "practicing" whenever she can and loves to go "fast like Curtis and Abby" (my niece and nephew, who brought their bikes when they visited last month and rode around the neighborhood)! Since she still hasn't figured out the whole "braking" thing and needs to work on paying attention to where she is going... we are keeping her "fast" to a "not too slow"... if you know what I mean!

So proud of my girl!