Milestones

I was prepared for some of the major milestones of my kids growing up: no more kids in diapers (yay!) and no more hassling with carseats (yippee!) and first kid in high school (yikes!) but this one happened upon me quite stealthily.  My baby just taught herself to ride a bike without training wheels.  I was watching her ride her bike, thinking that this summer was her summer to take the trainers off, when Melinda ripped into my thoughts and spoke the suggestion aloud: "I think Audrey could learn to ride a two-wheeler."  Audrey agreed.  I took the training wheels off, and Audrey changed her clothes into what she deemed to be perfect bike riding clothes. 

I moved the cars out of the way so that she could ride in the most level place around us: the lower part of our driveway (the streets around us are surprisingly hilly for a plain old neighborhood in LA county).  At first I was helping her balance and ride--holding onto the back of her seat--but we both soon realized that she would do better on her own.  She wasn't afraid at all, she just kept trying and trying.

I love the part of that first video where she looks up, takes a deep breath, and keeps on going.  The amount of time that passed between the first and second video was maybe 15 minutes.  I'm so impressed.

My baby is growing up, for sure and for certain.  I was surprised how sentimental this made me!  Now I'm looking at my kiddos with new eyes--when is the next hidden milestone going to jump up and surprise me?