Is it normal if they neglect one set of milestones in favor of the other?

My son is an excellent walker, after looking at milestones I realized he meets all not only for this age but even older ages, in fact he is on the level of a 2 year old who is somewhat below average but still doing ok. But not only does he have no words yet, he's also not super interested in communication. He gets some things I say to him, he knows his name, I see that, but he's often too busy doing other stuff, mainly running around, to care about that. Also I can definitely remember how his communication and even imitation took a back seat once he started walking. On the other hand I know of a baby (girl) who isn't walking yet, she's barely cruising, but she says several words. My friend says one of her sons was like mine, as were both of the sons of her husband's sister. They all turned out fine. I'm starting to get the impression it could just happen to be like that based on some other posts I'm seeing here, but I wanted to ask for other experiences.

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He is completely normal. Most children are just too busy exploring the world around them. A lot of children that don't say many words will typically start saying things just before they turn 2. I wouldn't worry too much and just keep talking, reading asking questions and repeating words. Even singing helps with vocabulary.

Thank you so much Tara! He is my first child, I don't know what's typical and what's not typical, but when I read those milestones I get extra nervous about his language and communication. He isn't even pointing yet 😭 On the other hand he's doing so much on gross motor end of things. I'm at a stage where new gross motor milestones annoy me because I wish he was saving that energy to start pointing or listening more often 😞

Babies will learn in different stages, really by 18 months if there are many milestones they are missing is when you could bring it up to your pediatrician. Just keep in mind that the checklist for their development is only a guideline, doesn't mean your child needs to meet them all by that age. So don't stress too much. My boy won't hold his own bottle, but I know it's not that he can't do it, he just doesn't want to do it (which is a complete nuisance most of the time) I'm an early childhood educator, so I see parents getting worried about things which is totally normal to feel too. You and your boy are doing great.

@Tara oh wow, I had no idea that there was such a variety. I was under the impression that any set of milestones missed by a month or two are an issue. By "set" I mean gross motor, speech, fine motor etc

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