And to top it all off, Edward learned to ride a two-wheeler! We'd brought his scooter and Daniel's bike and the Wisconsin cousins brought their bikes too. Seven-year-old Maggie was cruising up and down the block on two wheels and Ed wanted to give it a try. Her bike was a little too big, but luckily my parents had a slightly smaller (yet still purple) bike on hand in the garage (perhaps left from summer visits from the now pre-teen Arizona cousins?) My dad pumped up the tires, and we took a spin.
I could tell right away that it wouldn't take long for him to be riding on his own, but I never would have predicted how fast he picked it up. Once my Dad showed him that if the bike tipped to either side he could immediately put his foot down and not fall over he was full of "confidence," which Maggie told him was the most important thing about learning to ride a bike. I ran up and down the block holding the seat to keep him steady about five or six times and John took a couple of runs as well, but honestly, he was on his own within about half an hour.
And I must say that every rider should have a 23-person cheering section for his first ride. Many of my aunts, uncles and cousins were in the front yard for my mom's birthday party so there were lots of cheers and shouts, which you'll hear in the video. (His tutor/cousin Maggie is seen running along side in the third segment and says, "That was awesome, Edward," at the end.) My mom was thrilled to bequeath the bike to Edward--she's all about removing things from the house/garage. Now I just hope some little brat doesn't give him a hard time about it being a "girls bike." He LOVES that it's purple!
