Learning to Ride

Hannah wants so desperately to ride a bike like her big brother....she wants to do anything her big brother does ;) However, I can see that this may be a bit of a challenge for her as she cannot feel her prosthetic foot on the peddle of her tricycle. But she's such a trouper and so very determined that I have no doubt she'll get the hang of it.

When Joshua was two years old, his papaw (my amazing dad), taught him how to ride a tricycle by pushing him along with this long stick....

We lived in Florida country at the time (and when I say "country", I really mean living in the "country"). Here is a photo of our Florida home...it was built right in the middle of the woods. And we'd frequently find up to 22 wild hogs roaming our yard. I miss this house terribly, but I digress.....

We still have that infamous stick my dad used to teach Joshua how to ride his tricycle. I've kept that stick for 4 years, and plan on keeping it for many more. My dad originally intended for that long stick, along with a smaller stick he found for Joshua, to be their walking sticks when we lived in Florida. Here's a picture, taken back in 2006, of the two going for a walk. Such great memories. I digress again.....

The other day, we decided to take the kids for a bike ride...with the infamous stick, of course, along with the same tricycle and helmet Joshua used when he was two years old. By the end of our walk, Hannah had gotten a pretty good handle on how to maneuver that little tricycle. She had two pretty good falls from her bike, but after crying for maybe one minute both times, she hopped right back on her tricycle without any persuading from Mama or Daddy. She's such a determined little girl. We are so very proud of her and Joshua.