Pedal Pushers

In our neighborhood, it's not unusual to see very young kids riding bikes.  I'm not talking tricycles.  I mean REAL two wheeled bicycles.  Without training wheels.  So when Marley started to outgrow his first bike, I wondered what the next step was.  The overwhelming response from friends and neighbors was: a balance bike!  A balance bike looks just like a tiny two-wheeler, but without the pedals.  The idea is that kids learn to balance and steer on these bikes, then when they're ready, can pretty much hop right on a regular bike and take off.  No training wheels (or running while holding onto the seat of a nervous child's bike) necessary.  That sounded good to me!  There are MANY balance bikes on the market, and after much research, we ended up with the Mini Glider.  We bought it for Marley about a year ago, when he was 3.5.  It took a little getting used to, but by summer's end he was looking for bigger ramps to ride down.




Fast forward to this year.  I've known for a while that Marley was ready to try out a pedal bike, but according to several neighbors, there's an intermediate step to make the transition from balance bike to regular bike smooth: the "too small" bike. 

We all know how to "properly" measure for a bike.  When you sit on the seat, only your tip toes should be able to touch the ground, and when you pedal your knees should not bend at less than a 90 degree angle.  The problem is that this doesn't work well for beginners. 

A bike with a 12" frame appears "too small" for Marley, but in fact, is just the right size for learning.  He can sit on the seat and place his feet flat on the ground, just like with the balance bike, eliminating the need for someone (me) to hold his seat and run behind him.  Also, making it easy for him to stop without falling over.  I was hesitant to buy him a 12" bike since I knew he would only be using it for a very short time.  Luckily, I didn't have to because our neighbors gave us one that they were no longer using.  Yay! 

Anyway, the point of all this rambling is to say that Marley, age 4.5, can ride a bike!  It only took a couple attempts for him to figure it out, and I didn't even have to run while holding his seat.  Instead I got to yell words of encouragement and give pointers from across the park.  Feel free to mute the volume when you watch these.








And just so Amelia isn't left out, here she is on her bike.  Maybe tomorrow I'll see if she wants to try out the balance bike!

More Quotable Quotes

Phew!  Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can blog again.  Hooray!  Here are some recent kid quotes.

My favorite thing Marley does is narrate his own play, like a book. As he's pretending, he says things like, "He jumped as high as he could onto the boat as it floated by."

He and Amelia were sitting at the table drawing when I heard Marley say, "'My picture is better than Amelia's,' he thought to himself."

We were listening to music and dancing one day, and I asked Marley why he looked so angry. He responded, "This isn't a mad face, this is my rock n' roll face."

We took Marley and Amelia to an early ultrasound, and told them that they were getting a sibling.  Marley's first response was, "I wonder what I should name this one!"  Shortly after that, he came up with the name Eyeball.  More recently, he told us that Eyeball isn't a good name and he wants to name the baby Moonlight.  He also wondered how he came up with the name 'Marley', and was surprised to learn that he didn't name himself.

As Marley, Amelia, and I sat at the breakfast table one recent morning, Amelia offered me a soggy mini wheat from her bowl.

Me: No, thank you.  I have my own cereal.
Amelia: [screaming] I want you to eat this one!
Me: No, thank you.  You eat it.
Marley: I'll eat it! [gulp]

Amelia: [screaming] No, Marley!  Give it to Mama!  I want Mama to eat it!
Me: Amelia, you didn't want it.  And I didn't want it. 
Amelia: [more screaming] No!  Give it back, Marley!
Me: Marley already ate it.  It's gone.
Amelia: [louder screaming] No! I want it!

Me: Amelia!  Knock it off!
Amelia: But, I don't want to knock my bowl of cereal off the table onto the floor!
Marley: No, Amelia.  She means, "Knock your crying head off."

Is this thing on?

Hello? 

[clears throat]

[peers out into the darkness]

[crickets chirping]

[crochet hooks clicking]

Oh. Hi, Mom.  I didn't see you sitting there.  In the front row.  In the dark.

Well, uh, [mumbles apologies].

Anyway, just in case anyone else is out there...

[futilely searches the darkness]

We're still back from our trip.  The kids were sick.  

I had a lovely Mother's Day.  Amelia turned two. 

 Marley is finishing up preschool.  

And I'm growing a penis.

*gigglesnort*

Sorry, Mom.  

[hangs head shamefully]

I'm also growing the cute baby that it's attached to, of course.  

Okay, he might not look that cute yet, but just give it another six months.

Goodnight, Mom.

Nous sommes de retour!

And we're very tired.  It's 6:30 pm and Marley and Amelia are already sleeping.  I am going to bed after I post this so I can wake up at whatever ungodly hour with them.  But, we survived the trip.  Yay, for us!  We even made some memories.  Here is a sneak peak at some iPhone pictures of our trip. 

St. Malo Beach

St. Malo Carnaval

St. Malo, just steps from our apartment

The Louvre, Paris

Jardin de Luxembourg, Paris

Goodbye, Box!

Remember these cute one- and two-year-olds?  That box came to live at our house more than two years ago.  And it's been heavily played with since then.  Today, Marley (and Amelia) decided it was time to get rid of it.   As much as I love the idea of a cardboard box as a toy, I had to agree that this box's time had come.  Thanks for the good times, box! You'll be recycled, but not forgotten.

One week later...

Amelia's scar seems to be healing nicely.  Although, I'll admit that I'm just the slightest bit disappointed it's not more lightning-bolt-shaped.

Camp Long

Marley is really into climbing lately, and one of the preschool parents wondered if I'd ever taken him to Camp Long to climb Schurman Rock.  I've known about Camp Long forever, but for some reason never thought of taking the kids there, until he suggested it.  Marley was in heaven!  He mostly went up the "easy" way (seen in the video).  But, much to my chagrin, by the time we left, he was trying all sorts of more challenging climbs.  Better here than our living room.  We'll definitely be back!  Just another one of West Seattle's hidden treasures.