Pedaling a bike. It’s one of those little milestones of childhood that kind of go unnoticed. We all celebrate riding without training wheels, but pedaling just happens. Right? But what happens when pedaling doesn’t happen. Along with a laundry list of other things that we watched other children do easily, pedaling was always just out of reach for Ella. I’d watch three year olds roll down the sidewalk, we’d smile through bike parades in which we pushed our big kids in a stroller, or pulled them on a bike with a rope. It’s been an IEP goal, therapists have given us straps for the pedals to keep the feet in place, have worked on pedaling around gyms for cumulative hours. There have been tears on my and her part.
Foreshadowing - Lily drew a bicycle while playing with chalk…seriously, she draws a bicycle?! She’s three.
We took a couple month hiatus on pedaling. When we tried in the fall, there was frustration on all parts. This weekend, Loran was repairing his bike tire and since he was doing that, he filled Ella’s bike tires. This inspired Ella to get her helmet on and since it was a Sunday evening, there were no construction trucks to deal with. Loran and Ella went out to the road and I only half paid attention, given our past history. But within minutes, there she was! Pedaling down the road like she’s done it forever!
After seeing the congratulations and cheering that Ella was getting, Lily decided she needed her tiny trike out. She’s always given up on pedaling it because it’s difficult, the wheel is small and the effort required to pedal it is great. Off she went, mustering all the strength in her little legs. Her little bike was nice and squeaky. I followed her and Loran stuck with Ella and they both went in opposite directions.
Ella did the obligatory kid-thing and wiped out on her bike while turning. It was bound to happen, even I can show you the map of scars across my legs from epic childhood wipeouts. There were tears, and howls, but after a few moments and hugs from Daddy, Ella was brave and got back up on that bike and rode home. She showed me her scraped up hands and skinned knees and we celebrated her little road rash, after all, it is a little badge of honor.
Just to add to the pile of milestones, Ella read a book to us…not a reading primer from school, no, she picked up the Mo Willems classic, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late”. I’d take a video of it, but the little turkey took the book to school and put it on the class bookshelf so she could read it to her class. Her reading day isn’t until February 18th…we have a ways to go with her. Maybe I should have her ride her bike to school to retrieve her book…
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