All you can do is keep on encouraging your son!
All children will develop at different stages! For example - my little girl can speak reasonably well, and understands what you say to her, yet cannot walk - only take 3 steps at a time - she is 20 months old!
Just remember repetition is the key!

One thing I say is its not what they say, its what they understand.

Words, Singular, words thats all he should be saying. Possibly starting to string two words together., My 2 year old is just starting to put two or three words together, where as my oldest daughter Hayley was talking at 15 months.
This is because girls develop faster than boys.
Here is some links
Speech and language development
speech-language-therapy.com/devel1.htm
Speech Delay
www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/commonproblems/speechdelay.html
Young Children's Oral language Developer
www.comeunity.com/disability/speech/young-children.html

Hi. I am sure that all of a sudden your child will completely surprise you and start talking non-stop. I think sometimes our ideals are set by so called experts and we start thinking oh no what is wrong with my child they are not doing this or they are not eating properly etc. As you have already said all kids are different and the less pressure we put on ourselves as parents the better for our kids. Relax and enjoy your child the way he is because he will grow up so quickly and you will wonder where the time went.

I tossed this question out to my husband, who is a family physician:

He said:

by one year of age most kids say 2-3 words. By 18 months, most kids say 8-10 words.

Check out this site for more information:

www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.asp

I found Breanna was very advanced at physical milestones but she really didn't say a great deal until around 23 months,boy has she made up for it LOL I would perhaps try not to answer for her,I was answering for Breanna and obviously she didn't need to or couldn't get a word in edge wise so didn't HEH HEH HEH.I would not worry too much just yet.regards Merle

All kids talk at different times.You said you answered for him,well you probably shouldnt as this will not help.Just leave the question hanging,he'll start answering for himself eventually.If he is not talking by 2 you could take him to a doctor or speach therapist but he is a little young yet.Some kids start,then stop for a while then start again.My daughter barely spoke a word until 2 and half when suddenly she just started blurting out full clear sentences.She obviously could speak before but mustnt of had anything to say.Who knows, anyway dont worry, he is only a baby.Keep reading him stories and chatting to him and before you know it he'll be joining the conversation.