Meaning of the noun "spread" in context

Question

It's from the 12th episode of the 2nd season of Breaking Bad. Here is the context:

So, what did you have? Girl or boy?

-Little girl. -That's nice.

-Thanks. -Congratulations.

Thank you. -l have a daughter. -Yeah?

How old?

Old enough to know better.

Twenty-seven next month.

You have other kids? -Just the one.

I've got a 1 6-year-old boy. Well, he's almost 1 6.

Jeez. Oh, there's a spread, huh?

But he helps out, though.

Sure I've looked it up in this dictioanry, which is one of the best, but still I can't seem to figure out what it means there.

Answer 1

It's not clear who is saying what in the dialog. It seems that one of the speakers has just borne a child, and that same speaker may have a child that is 16 years old. The other speaker is noting that there is a long span of time (16 years) between the older child and this new one. Or, since we can't tell who is speaking, it may refer to the span between 16 and 27 years (11 years).

So, the word spread is referring to the span of time between an older and a younger child of the same mother.

American Heritage Dictionary "spread"
noun 8a
A difference, as between two figures or totals: What's the spread between tallest and shortest?