Thoughts on the Second Born

I think a lot about Sam's experience as a second born. Maybe because Jeff and I (and Casey) are first borns and I worry he will be out numbered. I have been thinking about the pros and cons and here is what I have come up with.

CONS:
Even though he has a first everything, we have seen them all before.
His baby book does have less writing in it (but I think we are keeping up well with photos)
His naptimes can get trumped by family activities. In our defense though, if we have to go somewhere, we have to do it first thing because once Sam goes for the morning nap, our day goes like this: Sam naps, everyone eats lunch, Casey goes to Quiet Time, Sam naps, dinner. So, if we want to accomplish anything it has to be first thing and if we miss his first nap, there is still time to catch up. I am defending myself against myself - funny.
Illness and injury are sometimes taken lightly because now we know he will recover.
There are some toys around the house that he cannot play with.
If he grabs one of these toys there is a toddler present happy to grab it out of his hand.
He wears about 90% hand me down clothes.
There's less undivided attention from both parents - I am recently realizing that I have not read to Sam nearly as much as I read to Casey and I feel pretty bad about it.
He has to be patient - getting 2 kids out the door or fed or into pajamas takes longer and everyone has to wait their turn.

PROS:
Sam has more confident, relaxed parents then his older brother may have experienced.
He gets earlier exposure to certain toys and TV - Sam is already dancing to the Thomas song which Casey didn't even hear until he was over 18 months. He is already playing with race cars and trying to ride a tricycle! (see below)
Sam has constant toddler entertainment, and its not bad :)
He never has to be in the back seat alone
He gets to be around more kids because of Casey's play dates or activities (ie, you don't see a lot of infants at Chuck E Cheese without an older sib)
Sam is eating a much more varied diet because we sort of forget when to start things, and we let him try whatever Casey is having.
He doesn't have to sit through much adult conversation because we gave up on that a long time ago.


Then there's crying. I couldn't decide where to put this. The second born might have to cry more in the daytime, because if he is contained and safe but unhappy, you might leave him there while you rescue big brother from being stuck upside down behind the couch. But at night, younger brother's cries are attended to quite swiftly because 2 awake children is worse than one. So I guess on crying there are pluses and minuses.

Maybe it won't matter to Sam because its all he will ever know. Someone told me once that every child is born into a different family, and I agree. I am interested in other people's thoughts!

A couple other updates on Sam: he shows the most interest in crawling when he is on the upstairs landing trying to get to the stairs. People have been surprised to learn that we have never had a baby gate in our house. Casey was never interested in the stairs so we never bothered. This is probably going to change this week, as Sam appears to be a bit of a daredevil. Also, Sam was prescribed antibiotics today for a THIRD infection on his skin. First his chest, then his thigh and now just above his lip. It was like a zit, then he fell on my shoe and got a fat lip. It was so red and puffy and gross that I wanted to get it checked out. I thought the doctor might tell me - "Looks like a zit and fat lip" but he didn't. And its off to the pharmacy we go. This poor kid! The lip is looking better all the time and hopefully the antibiotics will kick in on the redness part soon.
Hope everyone has a nice weekend!