Strider Bike Day 4: Out for a ride with Daddy

Mommy had an amazing morning with Mathieu.  I walked/jogged next to Mathieu all morning as he rode to one playground, then decided to ride to the other Tybee playground, and after playing, rode to the library for story time ... and then rode home.  I love it!

Daddy put his bicycle in the lowest gear so he could ride around the 4H Center next to Mathieu.  

Strider Bike: Day 3. Moving Faster!

This bike really is amazing!  Mathieu is improving each day.  Now he can ride for a mile at a time.  In the past two days, he's ridden round trip to the park, church, and beach!

New Bike!

We bought Mathieu a new Strider Bike.  It is a bike designed for 2-5 year olds.  There are no pedals and it is very light.  We were inspired by our friends Errol and Sara.  Seeing videos of their daughter Elsa cruising around on her bike made it hard to resist.  I don't know who is more excited, Mathieu or myself (daddy).  Probably me, but he likes it too. 

Once I had ordered it online I had to tell him.  I showed him videos on youtube of other kids riding it  (with their helmets on).  This got him very excited and he wanted to try on his helmet.  I was glad he was agreeable to this.  I also told him it would be coming in the UPS truck next week.  He knows this truck very well not because we order stuff all the time, but because it cruises through the 4-H center every day and honks when it gets here.  He loves trucks, and he enjoys looking out the window to watch it splash through puddles.

Every morning he would ask me in a very cute voice, "Did UPS truck come today with my bicycle?" When it finally came I asked the UPS driver to drive right in front of our house and beep the horn.

At this point Mathieu  is just walking it and not coasting at all.  But it will be very exciting watching him progress.  So far he loves it.  We let him ride it inside and out.  Inside, he rides it to the bathroom or to his room to change his diaper.  He seems very fascinated with the parking procedure --  Probably because he has seen us lean our bikes against various trees, railings, fire hydrants, etc.

Hard Worker

In the presence of Mathieu, Dave and I refer to ourselves as Mommy and Daddy, and we often say to each other things like, "Thank you, Daddy, for working hard all day long," or, "Thank you, Mommy, for working hard to cook us dinner." Mathieu will now say those things to us, (which is super sweet!) and will proclaim, "Mathieu working hard all day long," as he's playing with his trucks or other toys.  Well, child's play is a child's work, but sometimes that play spills over into accomplishing useful adult tasks ... like raking.

Yes, Mathieu's love of raking (which he is now calling gardening) has only deepened since last fall, AND he has figured out how to efficiently transport bunches of pine needles from the pile to the wheel barrel.  Mathieu takes this self-appointed task very seriously and is indeed working very hard all day long. 

 

Once the wheel barrel is full, we dump the pine needles in a designated area at the Center. Mathieu had decided that he MUST drive his car behind the wheel barrel.

Best Buddies

"Mommy, maybe you can call Wendy and Gunner. Maybe they want to go to Oatland Island with us."
"Mommy, maybe Wendy and Gunner can come to our house?"
"Mommy, maybe Wendy and Gunner can go to the beach and Gunner bring his trucks?"
"Mommy, I like Wendy and Gunner."

Ok, so I think the majority of things Mathieu says and does are absolutely adorable, but when I see Mathieu and this wonderful little boy named Gunner play together, I don't know what my heart is doing, but it's more than melting.  Mathieu and I love our new friends, Wendy and Gunner. 

This is Gunner's new tricycle.  Mathieu's legs are too short to peddle, so Gunner pushed him in the sand.

We love Little Tybee!

 Two weeks ago, we took another kayaking trip out to Little Tybee, and Dave's new EE staff came with us.  What a glorious time! Dolphins swimming, fish jumping, sunset viewing, and a moonlit paddle home.  As usual, Mathieu had fun splashing in tide pools, running on the vast beach, and we even had a campfire equipped with hotdogs and s'mores.