By The Numbers

I know you are not supposed to do it, but it is hard not to compare the second kid to the first. Obviously she is our only frame of reference regarding this parenting business, and it is kind of interesting to see how the kids have stacked up in the first couple of months.

Weight: At his 2 month doctor visit, Louis weighed 11 lbs, 8 ozs (which is only like 25% for boys), whereas Norah was 12 lbs, 8 ozs. Since girls are on a different growth scale than boys, that was like 90% for her. Considering she was an entire pound heavier at birth, it seems they gained about the same amount in the first 8 weeks. But I am giving it to her, for rocking the growth scale. WINNER: NORAH

Height: Louis came in at 23 inches and Norah was 22.5. He was a half inch taller than she was at birth though, so this one's a wash. WINNER: TIE

Sleep: Norah sucked at this age. Louis pretty much sucks too. I am giving it to him only because he at least sleeps in the co-sleeper, whereas the only place she would sleep (and it still sucked) was in our arms or in our bed. WINNER: LOUIS

Eating: By this point in time we had nursing down pretty solid, but Norah was never easy. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on supplies and pumps and lactation consultants. I stressed out constantly about how much she was gaining (which clearly was idiotic). Louis cost us a lactation consultant visit, bottles, and 12 billion dollars in formula. Plus, I had to take antibiotics twice because of him. This is a tough one, but I am giving it to Lou because I can keep track of every ounce he eats and that helps me sleep at night. WINNER: LOUIS

Diapers: Breastfed babies don't have stinky poop. I kind of think it smells like buttered popcorn (gross, I know). Formula fed babies on the other hand have poop that stinks. STINKS. Plus it is thick and green and did I mention how much it stinks? Norah never blew out a diaper. Louis does it at least once a day. He's already pooped on or in the bathtub, car seat, changing table, our bed, my hand, his sister's hair, and the living room rug. Plus, he pees everywhere. WINNER: NORAH

Barf: Not even a contest. Norah rarely spit up. Taking care of Louis means I am changing my shirt 4 to 6 times a day. WINNER: NORAH

Disposition: Neither of my kids had colic, thank god. I don't think I could have handled it. Norah was more alert at this age, but also much fussier. She was way harder to calm down and required a ton of rocking, shushing, soothing, etc to get her down at night. Louis doesn't need any of that and unless he's hungry or needs new pants, he's either napping one off or smiling. I think I had a better sense of Norah's personality by this point, but I also could spend all of my time obsessing about her. I haven't fully figured Louis out just yet, but he's a calm and mellow little dude. WINNER: LOUIS

At Lou's appointment I was joking with his pediatrician that second kids always get the shaft because they never get the same amount of attention. She agreed, but also reminded me that second kids also don't get the CRAZY. That's true. In the first 2 months with Lou we have had 1 urgent care visit (which I suspected at the time was totally unnecessary but had to follow the nurse's advice). Alternatively, by this point we had been 4 times with Norah. Way less crazy. Was less.