a brave new frontier!

it happened last weekend. harry entered a new phase of life. oddly enough, this one came later than other kids, even though his first few steps into mobility came sooner than average.

he was larger than average at birth, and sat up almost from the start. it wasn't a huge surprise when he started crawling early. i don't remember exactly how old he was, but he was walking before 8 months. really. of course, as he started riding a bike, we lived on a big hill in a hilly area. not conducive to two wheeling. this was one of the reasons we moved to flatter country.

toward the end of our first summer on the flat, we finally talked him into removing the training wheels. it didn't go so well. he was frustrated, and we couldn't keep him at it for long. flash forward to last weekend. after a dismal winter plagued by inversions, we had some spring-like weather, and harry begged for his bike.

i pulled it out, pumped up the tires, adjusted the seat, and off he went. he began trying to go, all by himself, while i was working on chilly's bike. by the time i realized that chilly's bike needed a new part, or a replacement, and talked him into learning to pedal on the trike, harry was riding short stints across the driveway!

after he learned how to stop, i told him that the faster you go, the easier it is to stay up. i think that did it. he overcame his concern of going too fast, and started riding farther. just a couple of hours after inflating tires, chilly had mastered the forward peddaling motion, and harry had no need for training wheels.

he was thrilled to watch himself on video, so here it is: