Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!

Olivia, bless, has taken her time to learn to ride a bike. We got her a proper bike for her fourth birthday, but it has only been since we moved house last August that she's really shown an interest in riding it properly.

We live on a cul-de-sac which is prime bike riding real estate. So, with her new-found interest we gave the old me pretending to hold the seat thing a go. The first time went amazingly well - she rode the bike on her own almost straight away... and that was that. Once she'd done it, we were off inside, like it's something you tick off a list never to repeat again.

A while later, we went out again and this time, she couldn't ride a bike. She was in a panic and begging me not to let go. I had little intention of letting go this time because she was would have just heaped herself in pile in seconds. We went out a few more times, but it was the same story and we both just sort of gave up.

And then the driest April on record arrived and we spent most of our time in the garden. For some reason Olive decided she'd try ride her bike on the grass. A few failed tries and she was bombing up and down over and over again.

Could she do it on the open road we wondered? Course. Now it's the stopping that's the problem.