ya don't HAVE to walk before you run, do you?

i'd heard from a friend about these strider bikes last week, and when i visited kyle's new bike shop on oralabor road in ankeny today, i saw they had them, and i bought one--in red. this thing is SO light weight! they have "solid" foam-filled tires, a very low saddle, and no pedals. jabari, my stout little grandson,is about 8 1/2 months old. we've warned his crazy, spindly sister nyla, who is approaching four years old, that soon her little brother would be her size; she outweighs him by only five pounds now. i play grandpa with them every thursday, and just last week, we managed to get him to crawl forward, instead of reverse only. this past thursday, having mastered crawling, he started working on "assisted walking" with me holding his little forearms. he's getting pretty good at it, but this balance thing is going to be an issue. so i got this strider bike for him to see if it's possible that he can just by-pass the whole walking thing, and go directly to riding. the little dude has arms like popeye, and his legs are so strong, his thighs have a waistline. i'm not going to tell addie about it, and just try to get him onto the thing while they're at work, and nyla's at school. i'll keep you posted. and thanks, kyle. nice shop.