My DD has been a late bloomer in just about everything, so I'm interested in these '9 month horrors' too!
I hear what you're saying and I'm afraid I have no answers, except maybe they're more aware and separation anxiety is more of an issue??
How long has he been waking hourly overnight? He's not sick, is he? I'm going through this very uncertainty atm as over the weekend we all had tummy bugs and I thought Natalie was back to normal yesterday but last night was the most unsettled she's been for ages. I was up and down, patting her bum from 3:30 - 5am.
Hopefully this is just a phase they're going through and will get over it jolly soon. I've been spoilt by having a couple of months of decent sleep now!!!
Hope things look up for you guys soon.