He still seems pretty young and language and communication are still pretty new. Maybe you can give him some choices instead of just yes/no, make it a little more complicated for him but where he does not lose out completely? If he is just trying to communicate, "get a conversation going" it has to be frustrating to be taken literally maybe. When he is whiny, I would talk to him as my own voice would certainly be better than his whining?

I would put food or whatever he requests down in front of him, let him manipulate it rather than insist he take it from you directly or make the interaction more complicated by asking where he wants to eat or telling him what you want/are going to eat :-) or do, etc. I think at this age it could be still some of the moving forward from pure crying to express needs; it is surprising how a mother can tell a "hungry" cry from a "change my diaper" cry from a "pick me up" cry, etc. Now we have words but it does not happen all at once or completely where he can wake up and say, "Good morning, I had a scary time waking up, it was really quiet and I was afraid everyone had left, can you please sing to me a bit and reassure me that it is all going to be okay?"