We bought Judah his first bike several weeks ago.  For the first week or two he tried and tried but couldn’t quite get the hang of the pedal cycle.  He knew to push one pedal forward and down, but once he pushed it all the way to the bottom, he didn’t know how to turn the other pedal over the top and keep the cycle going.  Now, two weeks later, he’s riding around the courtyard like a pro.

We took the first video within the first few days that he had the bike (skip to 0:40).  I had to push his feet to keep him going since he was in the pre-muscle-memory stage.  Monday (two weeks later) we took the second video.  We don’t typically strap him down with Saul’s armor every time he goes out to ride because I’m not entirely interested in my son growing up thinking that the world is padded and that it’s unsafe to go outside without foam on every extremity, but sometimes he thinks it’s fun to strap on all the gear.  He takes some spills but tends to shake them off and hop back in the saddle.

I’ve now set up an entrance-ramp descending from the staircase so he can get some quick acceleration before launching himself off the variety of kickers I’ve constructed in the courtyard.  Learning to snake around the palm tree while airborne may be a challenge, but I think he’s up for it.  Landing the jumps should be no problem since (1) he’s almost 30 months old, (2) he has training wheels, and (3) there’s at least a few yards of runway space where he can slow down before the stucco wall.