Wilder: What’s this mommy?

Me: It’s a pencil.

Wilder: No, what is it?

Me (confused): That is called a pencil.

Wilder: No, no, it’s for shooting scary things.  Just like Harry Potter.

Me: It’s a wand?

Wilder: Yeah, wand! It’s Wilder’s wand.

The other night I left him sitting on the counter above the silverware drawer while I was cooking dinner.  At some point I noticed that he had pulled all the butter knives out of the drawer and had piled them up on the counter.  After meticulously sharpening each one - using the meat thermometer as a sharpening steel - he placed them all back in the drawer.  Grandparents be forewarned next time you butter toast.

We've been enjoying a lot of nice sunny weather in Seattle this past month and Wilder and I have spent several afternoons down at the "Ballard Commons" playing in the fountains and watching folks in the skate bowl.  About two weeks ago, there was an unusual lull in afternoon bowl activity and Matthew took the opportunity to roll around the bottom with Wilder on the front of his board.  There were a couple of 10-12 year old kids in the bowl at the same time who graciously took turns.  Wilder hasn't stopped talking about it since.

"I went in the skate bowl with the big boys. And I talked to the big boys and take turns. I go really fast!  And we go up, up, up and then down, down, down. And go CRASH!  And the big boy go fast. And I'm a big boy too!"

It's true that they crashed.  Matthew actually tried to go up the side of the bowl and, predictably, he and Wilder almost instantly fell and slid to the bottom as the board shot out from under them.  I asked Wilder if it was scary to crash.  He decidedly answered, "No.  No, not scary.  That was fun for me."

Last night our friend Tina came over for dinner and we recounted the skate bowl adventure for her. Moments later, Wilder went out to the front porch and reappeared wearing his backpack and carrying Matthew's skate board.

"Bye mom," he said.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going skateboarding."

Tina asked, "Wilder, who are you going skateboarding with?"

"With the guys... Uh oh.  I need shoes!"  And he's off to find dad's skate shoes (no other shoes will do evidently), eventually located on the back porch. 

After an elaborate shoe tying process (aided by Tina), Wilder says he's ready to go and hops up on the board.  He stands there for a few moments with a funny grin on his face then suddenly leaps off into Tina's arms. 

"I'm back now," he says.  He hands the backpack to Tina and tells her, "Your turn."

Unfortunately, I just now realized that Wilder is pants-less in the skateboarding video I was hoping to feature on this post and so cannot be shown on Youtube.