Oliver Robert Weil

was born on July 2 at 8:27 am weighing 8 lbs 12 oz and measuring 20 inches long. David is pretty excited about being a big brother (often a bit too enthusiastic) and we are all adjusting to becoming a family of four. So far my hunch has been right on about this baby being much mellower than David ever was. I know that it may not last past these first couple weeks but so far I'm really enjoying it. Here's a few things so far that have made all the difference these past few days.

• Oliver will allow us to set him down from time to time. David never would, even while sleeping unless he was tightly swaddled. In fact merely holding him was rarely sufficient. He constantly wanted to be walked or driving in the car. Occasionally he would settle for being rocked or bounced. Oliver on the other hand happily cooed away in his bouncy seat this morning while I took a shower and dried my hair. Pretty amazing, huh.
• When he is fussy Oliver takes a pacifier to calm down. We never had to go through weaning David from a binky because he never took one in the first place. I know it might be a pain later down the road, but there's only so many ways to soothe a newborn and it's pretty convenient in the here and now.
• Oliver is a deeper sleeper. I know this is likely to change in coming weeks as he becomes more aware of his surroundings but it's nice at least for the time-being. David was a super light sleeper from day 1 but Oliver will sleep with other people coming in and out of the room, talking, and even David's tantrums.
• I feel better. For the first week with David I had a horrible spinal headache from the epidural. Not having that this time around has made a huge difference.
• I'm mellower this time around too. I've learned by now to trust my instincts as a mom and that most issues with infants are really just phases that will resolve themselves in time. It's a lot easier for me now to just relax and enjoy my kids without fretting that I'm doing something wrong.

At least in the first week of life Oliver is hands down an easier baby but fortunately David has so many perfectly delightful elements of his personality that make up for being a little higher maintenance at times. In fact as thrilled as we are to have Oliver joining our family part of me aches just a little bit about the fact that David can't be my whole world anymore and that Oliver never will be my sole focus as David was at his age.