gabby,
in my case, #2 definitely learns things faster than #1. recently he learned how 2 give flying kisses n patting his mouth a few times, making e bah bah bah bah sound. husband only taught 2-3x n edward caught it. milestones aside (talking, pulling 2 stand, etc), edward picked up other stuff faster too, like "bye bye, hi-5, kissing, putting e tel onto his ear 2 listen (we'll ask edward "how do u use e telephone?". tis is something we didnt teach him but he suddenly showed us he knows wat 2 do wif a telephone. must b fr watching us use it.)
i agree wif u tat #2 has a bigger sibling 2 emulate, hence they r more advanced n learn things faster. other than teething, IMO lah edward's more advanced than gabe.