At 8 months, Archer is pulling himself up all over the place and even tries to stand unassisted, last night he was trying to cruise along the couch, but didn't quite make it more than a step. He loves to eat, haven't found anything yet he doesn't like. York is pretty sure he's seen Archer wave, I think I have, too, but it 's hard to believe. He's going through a bit of stranger anxiety, but enjoys using me as a secure base to explore. Last night Wiley threw one of his toys down the stairs as part of some game he was playing. Archer saw the toy and saw Wiley coming to get it and seriously raced over to get to it first. I was shocked, his intention and speed were undeniable. Wiley's starting to get more annoyed by Archer taking his toys, etc, and I'm trying to get him to set a good example without putting all the first born pressure I so resented on him. He's doing a great job for the most part.

Wiley seems to love to brush his teeth. It's funny, he insists on using my adult toothpaste since he believes it will make his teeth sparkle more. When he's done he spits it all out then rinses out his mouth and wipes it clean on the handtowel. For some reason, maybe since no one taught him this, it's so cute to me.

He also has finally learned not to swallow gum, asserting that 'the chewing gum keeps making juice that you can swallow."

Yesterday we had Wiley's third birthday pool party (11am-2pm). In attendance were: grammy, sarah, bobby, amelia, andy, olive, andy, gloria, josh, sarah, tony, fiona, barry, ila, dara, matt, finley, lissa, soren, kathering, jobe, hannah. The kids seemed to have a good time playing in the pools, eating watermelon and hotdogs, and running around the yard. It was very hot and humid, but ok under the barn. Wiley got a lot of cool presents, including a bunch of books, a soccer goal, a metal detector, a wooden car, a venus fly trap, lincoln logs, and a bucket of candy. York cooked hotdogs and hamburgers for all to enjoy on his new grill. Wiley blew out his candles and all the kids sang happy birthday to him. All the sweettoothed kids snuck at least two cupcakes (wiley and finley) The last one out of the pool, ila, left a little brown poop then the party was over and everyone went home for a nap, except wiley, of course.