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1 year old behavior
I just have a quick question for those of you who have maybe gone through this, or are going through it now. Kellen is 13 months old, and recently has begun hitting his head on the floor or wall when he gets upset. I asked our daycare, and they said it was fairly normal pre-tot behavior. I freak out about my son and his head (I would rather him do practically anything than hit his head!) and what makes it worse, is that he goes to the wood (our house is all wood flooring, but we have area rugs in all rooms) to do this. I think because it is louder and freaks mommy out more. We have been saying a stern 'No!' to this, and removing him from doing it, but this is not seeming to work. Daycare said to ignore it, but I just don't want him giving himself a concussion while I wait!! (That may be a little dramatic, but I work with people with brain injuries, so I have wanted to helmet him indoors since day 1). So, does anyone have any thoughts/experiences with this? Is it a boy thing? Or just a 'my son' thing? I just want to know that it is sorta normal, and he will grow out of it.
Also, he had tubes placed about a month ago, which is awesome, because now he is starting to walk a lot more (still wobbly, and prefers to crawl) but he is not really saying any real words yet. He understands us very well, such as crawling to the bathroom when we say 'let's go take a bath!'. I am worried about his expressive language at this point. Our ped said they look for 5 words by age 18 months, but, being the worry wart I am, I feel like he is behind kids his age. I would take any thoughts/recommendations you have on this too!
Thanks for letting me vent!!!! 
Re: 1 year old behavior
Leo does the Head Hitting as well. When he sits in "time out" he'll try to hit his head on the wall. I just put my hand in between the wall and his head. He doesn't like it, but I don't say anthing, just act like it's not a big deal. I don't know if that's the right thing to do. He tries to do it if he's throwing a tantrum and I'll just pick him up and hold him so he can't bang his head. He's a stinker!
As far as words, our local doctor told us he should be able to say two to three word sentences by 18 months and at least 15 words!! I felt awful trying to add up all of his words. But he's 19 months now and says things like All Done, Bye Bye, Go Car,...so I'm not worried. They have milestones, but you'll drive yourself crazy trying to compare you child to others.
That is exactly what is going on! These milestones bug me! I think that things will be better now that we have the tubes, because there was fluid in both his ears, so I am guessing that his speech may be just a little delayed (he babbles quite a bit). I just don't want to feel pressured in to sitting down with him and pointing at a book and repeating 'book' a hundred times. We read a ton to him, and pretty much constantly play with him (just look at my house and you can tell that) but do give him a bit of time to play by himself as well. I just wish I could throw the milestones out! It sucks comparing! Thanks for the kind words!!!
Sophia and P both went through phases of hitting their heads on the wall/floor/chair/whatever they could find. With Sophia it only took two times of me ignoring her and it was over (the kid loves attention!). With P she would only do it when she was extremely upset and not paying attention to her made it end quickly. Her parents, on the other hand, went running to her every time she did it and the phase was still going on a year later. So, from personal experience I would say ignore it. The pediatricians I worked for said there was no way they could hit their head hard enough to cause damage so it would be fine.
For the words, I also wouldn't worry. They truly do go through a language explosion around this time and while he may only be saying a few words now in a month you might be amazed. A year ago almost exactly (so when Sophia was almost 2) she was literally spouting out 10 new words a day seemingly out of the blue. It will amaze you!
When Drake was about Kellen's age he hit himself in the head whenever he was mad/frustrated. As he started talking more he quit hitting himself as much. I think he was doing it just because he did not have to words to express himself and would get really frustrated. I just ignored it and it passed.
Good luck!
Harper hits herself in the head with her hand when she's frustrated. I always ignore it. When my mom watches her, she tells her no and makes a fuss. I've noticed she does it more for my mom. So my vote is also for ignoring it, and it's normal.
As for the words, Harper has a ton of words when it comes to repeating us. Speaking on her own however, I can think of only "more, mama, Emma (dog), and woof." I keep waiting for the explosion on her own...