The best part about this is that Olivia literally said to us last weekend, "take my training wheels off my bike." Neither Neil nor I worked with her on balance, or told her how to do it. This is because every time we have tried to, she would freak out and want to quit. So, when she demanded, we tried to slowly inch the trainers up because we know Olivia. To say she is cautious is putting it nicely. Again she demanded we take the trainers off, so we finally just did it. We thought for sure she'd crash and we'd try again next year (ha) when she got over the fear. But that didn't happen. Neil got her started with her feet on the pedals and gave her a push. She promptly pedaled away from us, turned full circle in the cul-de-sac, came back to us and hopped off the bike when she stopped it. Then, this weekend, nothing could make her try to get started herself. Until, apparently just like before, she suddenly put her mind to it and did it. This girl continues to amaze me with her abilities if she puts her mind to it. We kept telling her how proud we were of her, to which she replied, "why do you keep saying that!?"
Sunday, after this momentous milestone, Neil and I agreed that she could pick what we did for dinner. She quietly told me she just wanted Daddy to take her to her favorite restaurant (Pinkie's) which they did. Love.