He can identify all the alphabet by bringing you upper and lower case letters. He can give the sound of many letters i.e. b... ba.. but he can't talk. His vocabulary is about 20 words and he asks "what's that" about every thing. He can mimic or make the sounds of many animals such as "owl" which can say and them who.. who... "wolf" puts his head back a howls. He makes his cars have motor sounds and firetrucks make siren sounds. But he won't talk. He will point at you and himself and take you to the door... or the TV... or the kitchen for what he wants. He does a lot of gesturing. He now puts up his whole hand to show " that something is more than one". It is like he has created his own signing language. Does this sound like something his pediatrian should pick up on or should my daughter ask for a referral for testing. I don't think it could be hearing because of the words he can say and they are correct. He moves his mouth sometimes like he is trying to form a word and you can tell his mind is thinking but it doesn't come out. Is it too early to worry or the earlier the better?

How old is he?

There is no way of giving a valid answer to this question due to the fact you did not state the child's age. However, children naturally learn how to speak through their surroundings. I apologize for stating the obvious. If your child is 3 or older and still cannot make out words, it might unfortunately be time to have him/her checked. Seek professional help.

He sounds as if he's on the brink of talking, it just takes some children longer, don't stress about this or he will pick that up, just let him be he will talk soon enough.