Advise on 13.5 month old

[Alice4417]

I'm getting a little concerned about my 13.5 month old.
He can walk and has been doing so for a while now so not worried physically.
He can point at things of interest, wave at people and clap appropriately when happy or copying people clapping. He's very good and copying actions in songs. Loves playing peekaboo and comes to his name. He understands 'no' and will stop what he's doing if I say his name and then no.
He can say 'uh oh' when he falls over or drops something, go when I said ready steady go with his cars , doo for dog , uhh for up and du for duck.

My concern is his understanding for things doesn't seem to be great. For example of I asked him to go and get me his ball or book he wouldn't. He does understand things like 'wave goodbye' as he does this without me waving first. Is 'wave goodbye' a simple command ? His health visitor said he should be following simple commands.
Is his speech okay for his age ?
Opinions on everything would be great thanks xx

He sounds perfect! My daughter at 13.5 months would turn her nose up at us and continue doing whatever it was she was doing and had no interest in deviating from what she wanted to do. She's 20 months tomorrow and her understanding is phenomenal even if her speech is lacking 😂 they're learning so much in such a short space of time that some things take a back seat for a bit as other skills develop

He sounds fine.

It's difficult to know at this age whether they don't know what you're saying or are just not interested in doing what they've been asked.

Keep chatting and pointing things out in books and in life.

If you want to test him you can try saying things like "I want to play with the ball!" or "Teddy needs a story" and see if he responds, sometimes a less direct instruction works better. You can also try with higher value items e.g. "your snack is on your table" or "your favourite toy is in the buggy". This way you can determine whether he doesn't understand the words or he just can't be arsed fetching things that you ask for!

Sounds absolutely fine. Many dont follow instructions because they want to do what THEY want! You can try "where is the..." and "point at the..." as alternative short sentence instructions. The point is whether they can pick out words from a sentence and undestNd it.

Do you think words wise he's doing okay ? I don't know if he should be saying more at his age x

So I tried tonight with where is the duck ? When he was in his bath and he picked out the duck from his bath toys and handed it to me x

Great suggestions thank you

@Alice4417

most Health Visitors are as much use as a chocolate tea pot and as much sense.

I'd get rid of them all. As with anything there are some good ones, but rarer then golden hens teeth!!

you don't have to see them you know.

he sounds perfectly fine. Children vary so so so much and it means nothing!!

Dontnput pressure on yourself or him by asking him to bring:point to things all the time. Just keep talking to him, narrating life & his vocabulary will increase. Sometimes it won't seem like it's changing, other times he'll be using new words all the time! Don't stress.

also when they're learning a new skill (that you're not even aware he doing) language can appear to go backwards, it's all ok!

just enjoy him, they grow far too fast!!

Sounds fine. My DS is 2.5 now and wasn't really saying much other than mum Dad at that age.
He would go and get his shoes or coat or something but not every time. Was very much on his terms!
As PP have said its hard at that age to know if it's because they don't understand or just don't want to.

Again with PP we had better luck saying things like oh teddy has no socks on! Do you know where the socks are? Or look mums feet are cold! Where are mums shoes?! Turning it into something fun is more likely to get their attention.
Wording it as go get your shoes when they have seen a leaf or are inspecting the new amazing curtains that have appeared sometimes results in just being ignored.

Have a chat with the HV if you are concerned but at this stage sounds fine. He is doing something. It's when they aren't doing anything at this age that it's concerning.

We worried about DS speech for a while then the day of his 2nd birthday it just totally exploded. It was like he had been a sponge soaking it all in then released it all

Yep he sounds bang on what I would expect 😊 my son had 10 or so clear words at 2 and then his vocabulary exploded! He's 6 now and you can't get him to stop talking 😂 in my area they're not referred for SALT until they're 3 now so yours has got plenty of time to make the language leap imo!