Would these things prompt an eval for you?

[CalaRei]

So... this is incredibly hard for me, because it makes me so sad to see the developmental difference between my twins. I know it's probably mostly normal, but I wanted to run a few things by you folks and see if something rings a bell.

My "littler" twin was born at 4lb10, and sent to the NICU for breathing, but had no real problems and we all left 4 days later. They were 37 weeks. He's breastfed, and had trouble with reflux early on, but seems to have grown out of it. Now eats table food. Lots and lots. Sometimes I think he's a bottomless pit.
Here at 11 months, he sits, cross-crawls, pulls up, cruises, stands without support, etc.
He doesn't cuddle. Even after he's nursed to SLEEP, he won't like drape over my chest and lay his head on my shoulder - he's stiff as a board upright. But if you like try to comfort him (without nursing) he just thrashes around, twists and squirms. "Cry if you hold me, louder if you put me down."
He seems "stiff-limp" if that makes sense. Like he locks up his joints, but is still wobbly - he generally takes about 3 weeks to hit the same gross motor milestone his brother does (though he crawled first, it was only because he was doing a reach-pull crawl on his belly.)

It's hard to tell verbal stuff at this age, really, so I won't make too many judgements there.
He doesn't respond to his name really well. Doesn't look up when I chat happily.
Doesn't really look up at you - doesn't do the "hey, check out what I've got!" thing.

He doesn't smile much or laugh a lot, but they are there. He loves the dog and cat. And he loves pushing his walker dinosaur.

He licks stuff. A lot. Like a little sucker fish. He'll suck on the WALL, the couch, my shoulder, shirts, the piano. I understand babies are mouthy... but if he's standing at it, he's mouthing it, and it's just all. the. time. I don't think it's just teething.

He does "figure things out" - he can put his little cars down the ramp they go with. Blows into a recorder to make sound. Hugs a doll a bit. Puts things into containers and takes them out.

He "rocks and bobs" - this might be related to his "stiff-limp" thing. Like if he's standing at a baby gate, his hips swivel back and forth and his head jams up and down. Generally a happy thing, I think. Sometimes he does this when he's trying to bite/mouth the top of the gate/couch/etc, too.

His pincer grasp isn't perfect, but he does pretty well if I make sure to put just one or two things in front of him. If it's a scoop of say, fruit bits, then he'll just grab a handful and shovel it.

[earthmama369]

Nothing there makes me think "OMG emergency!" but there enough potentially sensory-seeking and sensory-avoiding flags that I'd probably call Birth to Three for an initial evaluation, just to see. We did that with our son and it was a surprisingly easy and noninvasive process. Two nice women came to our house, sat on the floor and played with my son, he soaked up all the positive attention he was getting, they asked me some questions, and then I got an evaluation report in the mail a couple weeks later. Emotionally it was hard for me to make that initial step, but the actual process was very good for all of us and answered a lot of questions. Ultimately, even though Birth to Three wasn't able to offer us services, it set us on the path to finding some answers and some really good resources for our family.

[Linda on the move]

agreed. I'm in the "when in doubt, get an eval" camp.

BUT, just because he's hitting milestones later than his brother, it doesn't mean anything thing. They are different little people, and overall, it sounds like he's doing well. I suspect that the less you compare them as they grow up, the better it will be.

(I have closely spaced children, and the older one has sn. I found it easier to not compare them as they got older and my sn DD started showing some of her strengths. )

I think a hearing screening makes a lot of sense, just to be on the safe side. A hearing problem or chronic fluid in the eyes could explain some of what you are noticing.

My neuro-typical child was more difficult as a baby -- the cry if you hold me, cry louder if you put me down was true of her, but not her sister who is on the spectrum (who was a VERY easy baby).

So my vote is to make some calls, set some things in motion, but to try not to worry too much. (which I know is impossible, but still, it's a good idea ).

[Aufilia]

I don't know if this will answer your question, because my older DD does have gross motor delays and SPD. But what you've described sounds a LOT like my son, who is 11 months old.

My DS does not stand alone, so yours is ahead in that area. I'm pretty sure my DS is not behind; we go to a moderated weekly playgroup of 9-12mo babies and DS seems within the range of normal motor skills at our group. My DD did not pull up until 13mo.

DS has recently taken an interested in putting things in and out of containers, and has also recently figured out how to put cars and balls down the ramp of DD's parking garage. He was putting the stacking cups inside each other this morning, and putting balls into the doors of the parking garage.

My DS is also very, very oral. This drives me nuts because he will really seriously eat anything. I cannot even list the things I have take out of his mouth just this week alone. Yesterday he tried to lick water off the cat fountain and ended up inhaling it instead. This morning he was eating cardboard bits off the cat's cardboard scratcher. Oddly enough, he only really likes to eat inedible objects; for food, he really only wants dry bread products, onion rings, or pepperonis. Seriously--that's the extent of his diet for like the last month. But if he comes across something that's NOT edible, it goes right into his mouth!

The one thing that struck me is that you said your son doesn't respond much to his name and other verbal cues. My DS does respond to his name and to words like eat, nurse, up, night-night, mama, daddy, Vivian. He sometimes seems to understand simple phrases, like "Take your hat off" or "give it to Mama." DS's only reliable spoken word is "Mama" but he signs "eat", "drink", "more", and "all done".