Hayley and Kate Minter

Sometimes, Hayley really surprises us with how quickly she’s growing up. This weekend was one of those times.

It started off yesterday. To preface, one of my projects this summer was to get Hayley to ride the little tricycle that Aunt Beth had given her. She wasn’t really interested in using the pedals – she’d rather have me push the back of the bike and didn’t want to try to pedal. I tried to convince her by saying that she could ride in the road like the kids next door if she used her pedals, but she still wasn’t interested. Her feet couldn’t really reach well, either.

Yesterday, the weather was reasonably nice, so we went outside to play. On a whim, I asked her “Hayley, do you want to ride your bike?” Surprisingly, she said “Yes!” I went to the shed and got it, took it out to the driveway, and she got on. I told her “Ok, you’ve got to push the pedals.” She put her feet on them, pushed, and started moving forward! She was riding her bike! By herself! We made a couple of laps up and down the driveway, then I kept my promise by letting her ride her bike on the downhill part of the road in our subdivision. She did really well, except that she didn’t quite have the grasp of “steering.”

Grandpa and Lele came down today to visit us, so we decided to show off her bike riding for them. Today, she was actually steering pretty well by herself, moving in something that approximated a straight line and correcting her course. Her legs still aren’t quite long enough, so sometimes the pedals end up in a position where it’s hard for her to push, and we give her a little nudge to get started. But after that, it’s all her.

We had another first today. We were playing upstairs after dinner, when I had to go do some stuff, leaving Hayley in her room by herself. After I was done, I came downstairs to Holly and Hayley. Holly asked me “Did you help her with her pants?” I had no idea what she was talking about. After further discussion, it turns out that while I was occupied, Hayley went into the bathroom, took her pants and underwear off, hauled herself onto the toilet without the aid of her stool, and peed in the potty by herself, calling to Holly to come get her when she was done.

What a big girl!