Birthday Morning

Jaden and Cody's 4th birthday gifts from Mommy and Daddy were new bikes-- their very first ones. Because the bikes were difficult to wrap, we just hid them in the boys' toy room. When Jaden and Cody woke up on their birthday morning, we gave them a few hints about where to look for their gift. For some unknown reason, both boys slowly crawled into the room after seeing the bikes...

They seemed more curious than anything, and each spent a while just inspecting their bikes.

Finally, they climbed on and experimented a bit. The bikes were Star Wars themed-- more because that was the kind that was on sale than because Cody and Jaden are fans. :) The boys did enjoy the light-up handle bar feature. Unfortunately, the morning was a bit rainy, so we had to wait until later to try out the bikes.

Jaden and Cody loved checking out the cake that magically appeared on the counter overnight. :)

When it was time for breakfast, the meal was served IN BED. I think this excited the boys even more than receiving the bikes!

Right before naptime, the rain finally let up for a brief time, so we were able to try out the boys' new wheels. Jaden and Cody use tricycles quite regularly, but they both get fairly lazy with their pedaling. When the going gets tough, they often resort to the "Flintstones-type" driving by ignoring the pedals completely and pushing forward with their feet on the ground. Pedaling a bike felt like a whole new story. Because they were higher off the ground, now they were forced to use the pedals! Both boys focused a LOT on watching their feet as they truly learned to pedal.

Thankfully, Grammy and Papa were over to help me guide the boys with their steering. Because our neighborhood has no sidewalks we had to go over a lot of bike riding safety rules. Eventually Jaden got the hang of his pedals and was able to look up a bit more. 

Cody had a little more difficulty with the pedals as he kept wanting to push them backwards. Because these are coaster bikes, he kept making himself stop and got a little frustrated.

So, he traded in his bike for a faster-moving scooter as we journeyed our way around the block.

Already by the next day of bike riding, though, Cody mastered the pedals. The boys asked to ride bikes nearly every day for the next two weeks. They are now fast enough that Mommy has to lightly jog to keep up with them both! Taking photos along the ride is no longer a possibility! :) We're happy that the birthday gift was a success. We see many days of bike riding in the future for these two cuties.