Well Spencer's 9 months just flew by shortly after Christmas and so we made it to the Doctor for his appointment closer to the 10 month mark. He weighed 21 lbs 12 oz, was 29 1/2 inches long, with a head size of 46 cm (18 inches). He has generally been following just above the 50th percentile curve and continues to do so.
He definately feels leaner to me these days but that is likely as he is scooting around non-stop. He started out moving backwards on his belly just before Christmas, then he figured out how to turn in circles. Just after Christmas he would get up on his knees and then plop onto his belly without moving. About a week ago he finally figured out how to move forward and he is so much less frustrated now! He is still moving on his belly with a very laboured up and down movement that must be tiring, but I'm sure it won't take him long to perfect crawling and find a better way. For now we are all just getting used to him moving around, keeping the basement door closed, picking up all of Ronan's small parts toys, etc. Luckily he isn't too fast yet so we can keep up ;)
Spencer also picked up eating cubes of food very quickly as well. And although we still top him up at the end of the meal with some mushed up food he generally eats everything solid. And he prefers it that way. Spoon feeding him has become a real challenge as he will not open his mouth and bashes the spoon away. He will sign for more and all done - the 2 look relatively similiar so it take him a few tries to get the message across. It also doesn't help that Mom & Dad are distracted at meal times by someone very loudly saying "more ketchup! more milk! I don't like this!, I'm not eating this! don't give me this to eat any more! OK, I'll eat 2 bites, but then I get a treat."
Spencer has lots of different sounds and loves to imitate people, both in noises and in movements. He knows what the "cool" toys are already. One day he had Ronan's motorcycle and Ronan wanted it back. We have set up a rule where you must trade toys, not just grab. Ronan tried to offer Spencer 3 different toys of his own but he would not let go of the motorcycle. Ronan then tried Sally - one of the Cars movie toys and he consented to the trade.
Spencer has always generally been a great sleeper - since an infant he has gotten up 1-2 times a night. But the bad news is that he is now 10 months old and he still gets up with the same frequency. We stopped feeding him in the night about 1-2 months ago and he was generally OK with a soother pop in, covered up and leave the room. No big deal to be up for 2 minutes, and I can usually fall right back to sleep. Other than some issues when he is sick and will only sleep when held, this continues to be the case. He is rocked to sleep for naps and falls asleep by himself at bedtime. He has been doing this since about 6 months of age. He has recently taken to longer naps and we have cut out the 3rd nap of the day just before x-mas. He now will sleep 2 1.5 hr naps, although if he gets too overtired he will only sleep for 1/2 hr.... so the trick is to catch him before he is too overdone.
Spencer now has 7 teeth, 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. He cut 3 of them over the x-mas holiday and 1 more after that. I think that like Ronan he will likely be missing 1 tooth on the bottom as it hasn't made it's appearance yet. We will see. Spencer loves to laugh and smile. And he loves to make other people laugh, especially his brother. The 2 of them are so cute together it makes all of the work worth it. They will both go to great lengths to get a giggle from the other.
I decided to go back to work part time starting at the end of January. Spencer got a spot at the daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at the beginning of January so we could slowly integrate him. We were prepared for the worst as Ronan cried every drop off for the first 3 months or so. Spencer was just as happy as can be sitting on the floor playing with the toys and checking out all the other kids. So far he has only cried 1x and I think this is because he was pretty tired. He does fairly well there - sleeps and eats so we have no complaints.
In January we also added a 3rd day for Ronan as he was very lonely at home and really misses having other kids to play with. It started in October when Franklin the Turtle (of TV and book fame) started coming over to visit. He would need to eat at the table with us, be tucked into bed with Ronan, come to swimming lessons, etc. Franklin started coming to our house every day that wasn't a pre-school day and then he started to bring his other friends along with him too! Bear, Fox, and Beaver were all regularly spending the better part of the day with us. We felt that he really missed playing with others and as Spencer was taking up a fair portion of my time and not really at an age where they can play together yet an additional day at school seemed to be the right thing to do. Since January we have only had 1 visit from Franklin and 1 from the "swimming ghost" - ? And none of them spent the night with us.
I will be part time until the end of April when Coby will take over looking after the kids 2 days a week. This allows them to be part time all the way until September when Ronan will start JK 2-3 days a week (and go to preschool the off days) and Spencer will be full time at the Y. We have registered Ronan in the French Immersion program here in Guelph as their only entry time is at the Kindergarten level. We will give it a try and if it isn't for us we will switch him to English school. There are a few friends in his preschool class who will be going as well as some of the Little Gym friends so hopefully he will have someone in his class that he knows to ease the transition.
Ronan's devious smile
Guess where Spencer likes to play? Under the computer desk. It is tough to keep him out some days.
Our self family photo - as directed by Ronan
Ronan slept in one day so Spencer and I went to wake him up.
Playing on the carpet
Spencer "everywhere I want to be, but I especially go exactly where my brother is"
Ronan had a great time going up and down the street trick or treating but after 1/2 hr he was ready to come home and have some to eat. He enjoyed handing out candy to the other kids and seeing all of the costumes. 
Spencer at 7 months - the big news this month is that he now has the 2 bottom teeth and is working on the 3rd. He was also diagnosed with a very small heart murmer that will be monitored over the next few years to ensure it closes on it's own. 