By Anne Roberts Barnes

It’s been about two months since Olivia Grace, a.k.a. “OG,” received her Strider bike. In Part One of this series, OG had just begun to pull herself up to stand using the bike (and copying that movement on other items in the house).

We’ve been having lots of fun, and while she hasn’t made a tremendous amount of progress towards actually riding the bike on her own, she has made countless developmental leaps, thanks in large part to this amazing unit. I feel like that deserves some mention, as other parents, like me, are constantly looking for fun activities that foster mental and physical growth and development. The Strider has gotten our now 10-month-old, big girl on the move.

Olivia has now completely mastered ‘pull to stand.’ A few months ago, she would slowly and methodically grab at different levels of parts on the bike (base, to seat, to handlebar) to get herself into a standing position. Now, she just gets up on her knees on the floor and reaches up high for the bar and pulls. She beams with confidence when she stands; giving off a 100-watt, five-toothed, pearly white smile.

She has a new trick, though! She now let’s go of the bike and stands on her own. She thinks this new feat is hysterical, and often falls down in a fit of laughter after about 30 seconds of standing solo.

She can also mimic her newly learned skill on any other household item to stand whenever and wherever she chooses. She has really enjoyed getting a bird’s eye view of what the dog is doing and swiping all of the cup coasters off of the coffee table.

Perhaps, the most exciting emerging skill of all has been that OG is now ‘cruising.’ She can walk around while holding onto objects. She was ushered into this skill quickly because the Strider rocks back and forth, so she had to adjust her body position and move her feet to keep balance while doing her assisted standing. She walked because she had to.

She quickly figured out that she could cover a lot of ground by moving from object to object. She loves to walk around the bike and transfer to walking along the walls, chairs, or whatever else she can hang onto within reach.  

Once she got this movement down, she wanted to cruise on everything in the house. She could walk from end to end if we strung together a series of objects for her to travel on. The ottoman, fireplace ledge (protected by blanket), and kitchen chairs have also turned into fun walking playgrounds.

The Strider not only works Olivia physically, but it’s also served as a fantastic mental work out. We’ve watched her transition from pushing, pulling, and scratching at random parts on the bike to playing with purpose and understanding cause and effect.

For example, we usually sit her on the bike and rock her at different speeds (which she also thinks is hilarious). Since she knows that the bike is for sitting, she will pick her leg up while standing and act like she is attempting to step onto the base, as we have shown her.

She’s also picked a few favorite things she consistently likes to do with the unit. She likes the sound the bike makes when she rocks the base by hand, and it bangs into the wall. The swingarm has a grippy cover that makes a fun sound when scratched. The base acts as a phenomenal drum when hit with other toys. Her favorite hand position as I rock her on the bike is the left hand on the bar pad and her right hand on the right grip.

I am always closely supervising OG during play. I appreciate the fact that the Strider is a well thought out and safe toy for a child this age. We haven’t found any parts that could cut her or any parts that stick out far enough in awkward places that could poke her in the eye or hurt her if she fell on it.

The wheels barely turn while the bike is mounted into the base, and when she was learning to stand, she would sometimes roll the wheel slightly on accident and lose balance. Just to be safe, Michael ran a cable tie through each wheel onto the frame so she wouldn’t get caught by surprise and fall if the wheel happened to turn a little bit. She eventually figured out that the wheels weren’t great spots to hang onto while pulling to stand and she steadied herself elsewhere.

All in all, Olivia is loving her Strider bike. It’s so versatile and is serving many purposes beyond riding during these very young days. It truly amazes me how far she has come since just a few short months ago. While I’m soaking in each day, loving watching her learn and explore through trial and error, I truly cannot wait for the day she is able to rock on the bike herself, and better yet, when she can scoot around on our driveway pad on her own.

Nap time is nearly over, so it’s time for me to close out. We’re keeping it light and super fun and she’s learning at her own pace. I’ll be sure to update again at the next big milestone or cluster of milestones. Bye for now!