Today is a big day in our house – Daisy has learnt to ride her bike. Just like her big sister Rosie she went from a balance bike to a big girls bike in a very short time, approximately 10-15 minutes this afternoon! The difference is she is only 3:

For us this is an extra special achievement because lately she has had a bit of trouble with balance. Although you wouldn’t believe it looking at her in these photos (just look at that smile too):

About 6 weeks ago Daisy had a nasty virus which left her with bulging red ear drums and loss of balance. The virus cleared up and went away within a week but her balance remained affected. In the five weeks afterwards she kept falling over and in fact had 8 significant falls at Nursery, several of which required me to go and collect her early.

These included falling over and cutting her lip open and almost smashing her front tooth out (its actually left it a little wobbly), falling and hitting her head, back and bottom several times and even badly scratching her chest. She is literally covered in bumps and bruises, its awful! Poor thing.

We have had her feet measured and brought her new shoes, we’ve had her eyes checked and we’ve been back to the Doctors. They rechecked her ears which of course were no longer red, made her do a few things like walk heel to toe, go on tiptoes and walk on her heels. On that particular day she could do none of them without falling over so was referred to a peadatrician. A little bit worrying I thought:

Deep down though I didn’t believe it was anything too serious. She has always been very active and able and although a little bit clumsy, I have always felt this has more to do with the fact that she is always running and dancing than anything else. Personally I thought her sudden problems with balance stemmed from the virus and were to do with the after effects/ residue swelling in her ears so have not been too worried, Nursery on the other hand have been. Over half term she hasn’t fallen once though and now she can do this:

I can’t wait to tell her teachers and neither can she. Its a big relief.

Well done big girl, we are all very proud of you and can’t wait to take you all out on a bike ride together!

Karen x