hi emz, try not to worry too much. my baby hallie is 17 months now but she also did the smacking thing. she would smack her toys or someone who was standing near her if what she was doing wasnt working the way she wanted it to. she was around 14 months when she was doing that..she used to bang her forehead on the floor too.

hallie can use a spoon now but i have to put the food on it then she does the rest.
my mum says its all just different fazez they go through.
when she starts a new thing or habbit i suppose you would call it, it usually only last a few weeks.
i found it works when she is doing something like smacking to take her hand to stop her and then point at her and say no,no,no. this works for me.

i have another baby keira she is 5 months so i will be going through all these things again very soon.
hallie wasnt really a talker either, she used to do this very anoying wining and grunting noises when she wanted something. just give her time and you will see the changes in the next few months.
hope this helps
cera