8 month old social milestones

[Lamby80]

Hello
Ds2 is reaching all of his motor milestones. Sits up unaided, is commando crawling etc. I am a little concerned about his social milestones. He rarely babbles. He used to up until around 6 month old but stopped (ds1 did this too but is fine now). He sows t wave or clap, imitate any gestures such as poking my tongue out. He loves playing games and singing and is always laughing and smiling. He plays with toys and loves watching his big brother play and talk. Should he be imitating by now? He reaches out for me to pick him though I haven't noticed that he make a a noise to get my attention, just general moaning if he is not happy. He wasn't much of a crier as a baby, but he did whine, moan if he was hungry etc. Can anyone she'd any light on whether this is normal behaviour for an 8 month old?

Just noticed he is cooing away this morning in sing song type noises. No consonents though. At least he is making noises!

I'm not an expert but I think 8 months might be too young to reliably be doing some of the social stuff you mention...I think perhaps if not by 12 months it would be different?

Ds didn't babble either and is a bit of a delayed talker, though by 3.5 he's pretty much caught up.

Children's development is quite variable when they are little, and different children focus on different areas. If he is making some noises and holding out his arms then he has some good verbal and non-verbal skills starting. If he isn't keen to copy you, do you copy him? Great way for him to get the idea.

I do copy him and we have the radio on, sing etc. I am quite an anxious parent anyway which doesn't help and I feel a lot of the time I am looking for issues if that makes sense. I am getting help for this. I also noticed that he tends to stiffens his arms occasionally in his high chair ( every couple of days). I need to step away from Google! Thank you for taking the time to respond. X

It must be hard if you are anxious. They do do strange things don't they! But it usually means nothing. DD (14 months) has been pointing for months but only just started waving, her friend has been waving for months but not really pointing. I think you have to balance what they are good at with what they haven't got yet i.e. if they are doing loads of skills but are not yet doing one or two, they are probably fine. He is probably just a quieter personally