For her fourth birthday, Natalie got a bicycle. It has “manes” (so she calls them) and flowers and is otherwise very girly, and she has named the bicycle Daisy. When she is tired, it might be because Daisy needs to go eat some grass.
I took the kids out to the front yard, where they can ride in circles around our landlord’s roundabout driveway, and this picture is typical of how I typically saw her:
She loves her bicycle! She has trouble riding it up the steeper part of the driveway, and hasn’t quite got the hang of either set of brakes (the hand brakes are too big for her little fingers, anyway), but she has a great time.
When we unveiled the bicycle, Benjamin was quite distressed that there was not a matching vehicle for him. Since then, though, he’s relented, and is content to stomp around on the old Bigwheels trike:
His feet don’t reach the pedals and the noisemakers don’t work anymore, but he doesn’t know the difference and had a grand time!
Lest you think our lives some idyllic paradise, however, I submit exhibit C:
Long ago, Natalie decided this bit of wood was an “elephant”, and it has been called the elephant rock or stump ever since.
The real joy of the excursion, though, was how nicely the kids played together, and how happy Benjamin was to see Natalie enjoying her bike! He was only too happy to help her out when she needed it. I wasn’t planning to video anything when we went out (because I am a lamo), so this is just a cellphone shot. It comes to you, nevertheless, in enhanced definition:
EDIT: As a quick caption, at the end of the video Ben is saying, “Good job, Nata! Good job, Nata!” I sometimes forget that not everyone speaks his particular brand of toddlish.
As always, if you would like a copy of the non-youtube’d video, feel free to ask.
