Not real "talking" but using words regularly.

I just posted about this on my blog and figured I'd bring it up here as well...

W is 14 months old and doesn't use any distinguishable words yet. When he's upset he goes "mama-mama-mama" but I think that's more of a noise he's making than him saying "Mama." And he doesn't even come close to Dada yet (which I assume is more because DH was deployed from 5 to 13 months than anything else).

Sometimes I think he says a word, but until it either REALLY sounds like it or he's using it all.the.time (not just here or there) I'm not comfortable saying he knows x-word.

Most milestone charts online jump from 12 months to 18 months, but there's SO MUCH that happens between those two times it's hard to tell if they're "on track" or not, know what I mean?

FTR I'm not concerned that he's "falling behind" as much as I'm concerned that I'm not doing something right. We've been working on Mama, Dada, and ball (his favorite thing in the world) for a few weeks and still nothing

Bottom line - I hate milestones and I'm terrified that I'm not a good enough Mom, lol. Please teach me how to teach my son to say real words, not just babble constantly.