Look! No training wheels | By Katie

 It was a big day on Tuesday here. Sefton can ride his bike with no training wheels! 

Getting here was a long process. It's been hard as a parent who knows nothing about how to train a kid to ride a bike. The next tough thing was Sefton showed zero interest in riding his bike, and peer pressure did nothing to motivate him to jump on a bike. 

We know from raising Sefton that his m.o. is to show resistance or hesitation to a new skill, then suddenly just do the thing. For instance, writing his name. He knew the alphabet much sooner than other kids his age. Something he memorized from children's videos and songs, I wouldn't put him in the "gifted" category, but the kid understands things through repetition. We would write his name for him, he wouldn't even want to try. Then one day I spelled it out on a large banner, and boom. He wrote his name everywhere he could. 

Same could be said for potty training. Same for skiing skiing. Same for sitting through a board game and playing by the rules. The list goes on. 

Part of the frustration for us parents was that he learned how to ride two wheels when he was 3 years old. He had a balance bike, and he tore down our driveway, the street, camp grounds, etc. on that thing. Then he grew out of it, so we got him a larger bike, and he flat out refused to sit on it. It was a change, it was different, and we didn't push him. He grew out of that bike, so we got another bike (hand-me-down this time) and he would not touch it. 

So we gave in and put training wheels on it. Then he was up and peddling around in no-time. This was last fall. It's spring now, and we are ready to push him. We took the training wheels off. 

I decided Tuesday, with the weather unseasonably in the 70's, it was a good time to begin practicing. He has been working with his therapist on building his weak core muscles. As well as spent a lot of months addressing some vestibular, and proprioceptive work, all addressing a fear response that is immature for where he should be. 

At first he sat in the doorway, hesitated putting shoes on, and ultimately cried by the fact that we were going to get bike out. I sat him on my lap, and chatted at length about what he was scared of (falling, of course) and me assuring we wouldn't let that happen. And we talked about all the reasons we are excited to see him biking. 

We got him out in the street. Helmet on. Sitting on his bike. What would you know, literally a few jogs up and down the road holding onto his bike seat, trading from me to Thom. He was beginning to get a feel for it. A little more work "pushing my feet out and balancing" and suddenly he was pushing off the ground, and getting his feet connected to the pedals and stopping without tipping over. He did it! 

We found a little loop nearby where he was comfortable to cruise. His smile was infectious, and Thom and I could not stop singing his praise, telling him how proud we are, and really making him feel special. We even went out to his favorite ice-cream shop to celebrate this big day. 

My Momma heart is full. I love this kid so much.