Owen's First Bike

Last week when Keith and I went to see Monster's University we felt so bad for leaving Owen that we decided to stop into Talbot's Toyland to get him a little surprise. We looked around for a while at all the fun toys and ended up at the toddler bikes. We were so close to buying him one, but decided to hold off until we had a chance to really think it through (although we already knew he would LOVE it and have so much fun with it!).

Keith was really the one pushing the bike thing. I could have held off on getting him one for a little longer, but Keith has been so excited about it (watching their father-son relationship and the way they love each other is one of the greatest experiences of my life -- but that's a whole other post for another day) that we ended up going on Monday to buy him one!

We've heard so many good things about the Strider PREbike Bikeand did our research, and ended up deciding it was the best "first bike" for Owen. The best thing about the bike is that he gets to build his confidence, balance and coordination on the bike before he has to worry about lifting his feet off the ground to pedal. With this bike he'll master the most difficult parts of learning to ride a bike (the confidence to find your balance) and worry about pedaling later.

We knew Owen would eventually love his bike, but we thought he might not be interested in it right away. The toy store is right near a great big park with nice wide pathways that are perfect for practicing, so we took him over there after buying the bike and helmet (Specialized Small Fry Toddler Helmet).

He almost seemed like he had done it before because when we put the helmet on him and plopped the bike down next to him he saddled right up on it like a pro.

He is obviously not at the point yet where his feet leave the ground, he's not even really sitting on the seat yet, but he gets the idea of it -- and that's a great place to start.

He was so proud of himself walking around on his bike in the park, and we're really proud of him too. When we got home he wanted to ride around on it some more, which we let him do in the house. We want him to get as much exposure as possible to the bike so he'll be really confident on it, but eventually we'll phase of the bike riding in the house.

So far the only challenge is wearing the helmet. He calls it "hat" and is fine with letting us put it on him, but once it's on he wants us to take it right off again. It's just something we'll have to continue to work on!

Oh, and THIS. How crazy are the squirrels in this park? It's Central Park in downtown San Mateo, so it gets a lot of foot traffic, and I'm guessing the squirrels aren't too afraid of people. Owen was saying "Hiiiiie" to him and it just kept coming closer. For a split second (obviously long enough to snap a picture) I thought it was cute until I realized it would probably keep coming and coming and coming. We promptly scooped that boy up and ran for the car.

***Also, please take a minute to vote for my blog in the Pop Sugar Top 25 Nor Cal Moms contest! You can vote once a day until August 13th! I'm currently in the 40's somewhere and I'd love to be in the top 25 when the list is made! Thanks so much!***