Biker Girl

I know I'm completely biased, but you simply cannot deny that this is one of the cutest things under the sun!!! Although my little girl can debate, dance, and sing her little heart out, she rarely embraces any activity that presents any significant risk to her personal safety. Given this fact, she's been riding her tricycle around with the big kids and, sadly, she's been left in the dust. I finally convinced her to try her "Big Girl Bike" by promising that if she could learn to ride it, she would be much faster than the other kids. She was very scared, but she pulled it together and she wheeled her bike right out there and hopped on without looking back! I put her helmet on her head and Justin dug out all of his knee and elbow pads for her. He even tried to convince her to wear gloves, "just in case". She blew him off and said she was ready to go. I held on to her by the seat of her bike for one lap but soon she blew me off and went for it all on her own.

For the record, Annalise is very concerned with fashion and she was not pleased at all with this outfit. Our first hurdle was the shoes. She wanted to wear her sparkle sandals and when I presented sneakers, she told me with great passion "I look like a dork!" I won the argument in the name of safety but she was not pleased in the least. Next was the helmet. Simply not cool.

As you can see, she's not very speedy yet, but she's on her way! Later in the afternoon, she pulled the streamers off the handlebars after she decided they were "a little bit baby." Justin rode his bike with her for a while before getting bored but he did tell her how well she did when she came inside. She beamed with pride and said she'd try again soon. I hope for her sake that she does, but the Mommy in me really wants her to bag it and crawl in my lap for a couple more years.