Ashley's big month

Grandma and Grandpa "Sniff" bought Ashley a bike for her birthday, three months early so she could have a chance to ride it before the snow fell. Alex and Annie both learned two wheelers this summer and Ashley was sure she could figure it out, too. She had been riding with training wheels for all of a week when she first asked us to take them off. Her first try out she rode about 20 feet before falling.

She got a little discouraged that she fell (even though she'd watched Annie and Alex fall so much a week or two earlier) so she wanted to put them back on. We probably put them on and took them off 5 or 6 times over two weeks. Then we decided to leave them on until she was ready. Every time we put the training wheels back on we raised them just a little so she would have more wobble. Last night she was riding and riding and riding and those dang wheels were staying off the ground for long stretches. We asked her if we could take them off and she said no. Then we told her when Annie gets home she could show her what she'd learned. That was the trick and off they came, again.

She got on, Aiden got the seat and ran with her for 4 steps. Off she went all the way around the parking lot on her very first try!! The video is from her second try when she decided to take the curve a liiittle too close and hit the curb. She got right back on and went around and around and around. She's very proud of herself. We had to get Shaila and Matt and their boys to come see and then we got Amy and James and their boys to come see. She's been riding this morning again and she's got it down. She's a little bit too small for her bike (the smaller size bike would only work for like 2 weeks before she outgrew it so we went up) so stopping is hard and she hasn't figured out starting on her own yet, but she's got it down!

Also in this month (30 days, not calendar) she has FINALLY completely potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We get a lot of excitement out of remembering how many people promised her prizes and parties for finally doing it. She has been wearing panties for about 10 days or so and has had only three accidents. And one of those was right in front of the toilet just a tiny bit too late.

Ashley is our most athletic child, by far. She has better aim at throwing a baseball than Alex, she can run behind a ball and actually dribble it soccer style (she's been doing it for a year), and she can nail it in kickball. Annie still trips or misses almost everytime at kickball, Alex has a lot of misses, and while they are getting better on their own, we are SO proud and amazed at the skill Ash has. She's our future Olympian. Wah hoo!! (when is the last time you said "wah hoo"?)