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I've read that baby's first real word(s) can come as late as 18 months. My LO is only 9.5 months old, so we're not quite to that point yet. I think I would try not to be worried just yet but it might be worth a call to the pediatrician if you think it would help calm your nerves. I think it's a positive thing that he understands things you say and that he nods 'yes' or 'no.'

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! Hope he starts talking soon! I know it'll ease your mind so much!

The mean age for 1 word is 12 months. I know they say that kids who speak 2 languages aren't delayed, but at least in my work experience, I've found it takes a little longer to sort anything out.

If my 16 month old still wasn't saying a single word, I probably would have pursued it with my pediatrician, because the earlier the intervention, the more effective.

My son wasn't saying very many words at that age either. At 18 months he was able to say about 10 words maybe? By 2 years, he was saying maybe just 20 words. We had contacted early intervention by then and has been workin with them since. His speech and vocabulary has improved a lot. He probably just had a natural speech delay but I found the EI services to be very helpful.
I would wait a few more months. If you're still concerned then, talk to your doctor about early intervention evaluation. If anything, it will give you a peace of mind.

@mrstilly: your mention of pointing things out while reading brought this story from NPR to mind (I know you are discussing talking, not reading, and the article is about disadvantaged kids, but it may still be of interest) I've found myself pointing out words and following the words with my finger after hearing this story:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/29/153927743/small-change-in-reading-to-preschoolers-can-help-disadvantaged-kids-catch-up

We have a late talker that will likely have to be involved with early intervention in the next few months. At my son's 15 month appointment we were asked if he was saying 3 words (including mama and dada), which he wasn't. He'll parrot dada but doesn't use it as a name or anything. He also shakes his head no and seems to say "yah" at the right times but we weren't sure if that counted or not. Our pedi said by 18 months he should be saying 8 words (including mama and dada) and if he isn't we'll be referred to a speech evaluation. We are starting month 17 and not much improvement so it is looking pretty inevitable. Our son did get tubes in his ears at 8 months and before the tubes his ears were constantly filled with fluid so he only had 40% of his hearing so we know to expect some developmental delays but it will be what it will be and we'll work with that. Do you have a perfectionist? We seem to as he doesn't complete a milestone (crawling, walking, etc) until he can do it perfectly and we think talking will be similar for him. There is something called the einstein syndrome that seems to be a possible fit for why our son may be a late talker (the whole perfectionist thing fits in here). Now I don't think we've got a genius on our hands but it may be a contributing factor. I would say take a deep breath and continue to do what you are doing, reading, pointing things out, describing them, etc. Many boys are later at talking than girls so keep that in mind too.

My boy cousins started speaking a lot later than the girls in my family. We speak 2 languages at home so I was worried she would have delayed speech, but Lo's done pretty well picking up words. I did a word count the other day and she knows about 40 words and can say about 15.
We point a lot of things out and do word repetition when we show her things. I'm always talking to her like she's an adult too.

@brownie: Baby sign counts as words

I asked my ped what we should expect at 18 months, and she basically said if we don't have more speech by the end of the summer, we should come back for a visit.

We're a two language family and while my son understands both, he is not talking as much as I would feel comfortable with. So, I try to do speech activities with him, mostly animal sounds and lots of repetition. Fingers crossed, let's see what happens.

eta: What about getting a book with photos or pictures of things, and having him point to the objects to help with recognition? We have a great book that we use with our son, he can find Mommy's coffee and Winnie the Pooh's honey in two languages, so we don't have a comprehension issue. It could ease your mind a bit, it did for me.