Two-Wheelin' it now

We've been trying to get Jeremy to ride his bike without training wheels for literally months now. My dad took off his pedals so that he could use his feet to power the bike and glide to learn balance, but that only made Jeremy mad. He refused to even try. A few weeks ago we got him to try his bike without the pedals and he seemed to have fun. With his sister there riding circles around him, though, he quickly began to see the limitations that no pedals brought. We put the pedal back and started trying again. His balance was excellent and we knew it was just a matter of time before his confidence caught up with his ability. Sunday evening was that time. We went over to the church parking lot (where we taught Cassie to ride - open space without grass and other obstacles) and within two minutes he was riding. At first he wanted Jon to hold on, but then he told him to let go and he'd push with his feet.All of a sudden out of the blue he lifted up his feet and put them on the pedals and off he went.

I'm so glad I brought the camera because this is a picture of his first solo attempt. The very first revolution with his feet on the pedals. And then he rode right past me - isn't that always the case (wink).

He was so thrilled with himself. We were proud of him too.
It's amazing to me that Jon and I had gone through all this preparation work get him to ride and were ready for the traditional "Don't let go, Daddy" style of learning to ride with two wheels, but this little guy told his dad to let go and then just basically did it on his own (and on his own terms). I wonder if that is a foreshadowing for the other milestones in his life.