3/19/09

Start Early

The warmer weather of the past week or so has opened up a world of outdoor activity possibilities, some of which we had completely forgotten about over the long winter. Luke, Jaz and Zeb spent a couple of hours on Tuesday looking for bugs for their bug cage. They found one wooly bear caterpiller and were thrilled (and spent another chunk of time collecting things for the caterpiller's "habitat"). I've been putting bins of inside toys from the playroom into my mom's basement, where we'll leave them stored away until next winter. The season of outdoor toys is upon us. The garage door is often left open all day, allowing easy access to hula hoops, scooters, buckets and bicycles.


Zeben is now big enough to ride his very own bike. He has officially inherited Jasper's wooden run-bike, "Blueberry Lime" (as named by a four-year-old version of Jasper), and he couldn't be happier about it.


He's actually a touch too short to really be able to ride it comfortably, but that doesn't seem to bother him in the least.


The way it works with run-bikes (also known as "balance bikes") is that first kids just walk around while straddling them, then they start to run, and eventually they lift their feet off of the ground and glide (at which point they are ready to balance on a regular two-wheeler bicycle). Lukas and Jasper were both experts soon after they got the balance bikes for their fourth birthday. Zeben is, obviously, much younger than they were, so I'm not sure how long it will take before he gets to the gliding stage. For now, he's strictly walking.


"I riding mine own bike!"


I love being witness to Zeben's new love of biking. I hope it's a love that will take him many places and keep him feeling free forever.

7 comments:

JMe said...

Awww Zeben looks like such a big boy!

Alison said...

Looks like a fantastic day. I love pictures of kids with their bikes, they are always so happy!

Celeste said...

Zeben looks so much like Lukas in that brilliant photo that shows his hair. :o) pretty awesome. looks like you've got a great spring lined up!

BonnieBelle said...

What a great idea! I've never seen a bike like that before.

Anonymous said...

Alas, we came to know about these bikes way too late for us. Aidan is almost 6 and has little interest in learning to ride his own bike. He loves the trail-a-bike, but it is getting harder and harder for Mommy to pull him (he's over 50#) Maybe this summer he'll be brave enough. . . Your boys look like they are having such a good time this spring (so far) Keep the great pics coming! :)

Melissa B said...

You've totally sold me on a balance bike for my 2.5 year old. Would you mind sharing what brand of bike Zeben is riding on? I've been comparing the like-a-bike and the skuut and it's hard to tell if the like-a-bike is worth the money. Anything that looks that good after already having been loved by two active boys seems like a good investment though, so if that's what your boys have I would definitely consider it.

Lex said...

It is the like-a-bike brand. At the time when we bought the bikes, the skuut had yet to join the market, but I was so glad when a more affordable option became available (so that when people stopped me on the street and asked where they could get one, I could point them that way). Several of our friends have the skuut version, and the two bikes are largely the same. I do think that the like-a-bike might be slightly better quality (one of our friends has had trouble with needing to tighten the bolts on her boys' skuuts rather frequently; we've never needed to do anything like that with our like-a-bikes), but I don't know that it's a $100+ difference. No complaints about the like-a-bikes, though! And the little pocket accessories are a HUGE hit (as were the kick stands).