Upgrade

Two years ago we bought Lily this tricycle in exchange for us bringing home a new baby boy from the hospital. She was so excited about this bike (and whenever I called it a bike she ALWAYS corrected me that it was a tricycle) but so horrible at coordinating her legs to pedal.

Last year, at the very end of the fall - we're talking maybe 9 months ago - she finally was able to pedal on her own down our very short street. But it was still incredibly awkward and no matter how I write it nothing can compare to her dramatic pantings of how exhausted she was from pedalling 200 yards.

But this spring when the temperatures finally burst over 32* she got on that tricycle and was off. She rode that bike as if she had been planning on it all winter and she was finally able to execute. And ever since then we've realized that she looks ridiculous on such a small bike.

We did not want to buy her a princess bike. We are princessed out. We're done with anything princess but we are trapped in a four year olds world of royalty. After hours of research it appears that all the affordable bikes are either pink or purple for girls or blue for boys. There are no budget-friendly unisex color bikes. So if we were going to buy a pink bike we might as well make her and the executives at Disney happy.

I probably should have expected it, but I thought she would struggle a little on the new bike. She got on it and took off. It was one of those mother moments where my stomach dropped and I couldn't figure out how my baby was able to maneuver that bike on her own.

And then my other baby immediately got on the tricycle. No one had to explain to him that he also got an upgrade. His feet don't reach the pedals so he just scoots along. The only reason he touches his other riding toys (in background) is to push them into things. He thinks that's fun. My son, who I want to grow up to be an intelligent young man, thinks it's fun to ram toys into garbage cans and recycling bins.

We only have about 4 months left of warm weather and I can guarantee that we will be using the bikes about 3 months, three weeks, and five days of that time.