Yesterday afternoon, Daniel had fun clapping hands with me. He thinks it’s funny when I help him clap his hands.

I felt like snapping away photos of Daniel and Amarind. They both had fun and the camera loved them both. Here are some of their photos.

I went to YouTube this morning and searched for scrapbooking tutorials. After watching two videos, I did my first ever digital scrapbook art. Here it is:

Daniel is 8-month-old today.

This means that I’ve been a mom for 8 months already, and watching my son grow into a fine, beautiful boy is pure joy. On his eight month, Daniel has turned into a busy and curious tot. Lately, he’s trying to learn new things—from endlessly attempting to crawl, pulling up when I hold his hands, playing with his teether and his animal toys, to watching his favorite kiddie shows on DVDs. I noticed that he’s more sociable now and can already recognize his parents and key people around him like his Yaya Mona.

Those were the days when we could just leave him and let him sleep alone. We’re always on the qui vive when it comes to him and although he doesn’t ask for it, we monitor him almost 24 hours a day. At this age, he mindlessly reaches out for something and put it in his mouth– that’s what we’re kinda apprehensive about, not knowing what that item is.

He also has an increasing desire to be independent. Two months ago, we got him a walker knowing that he wasn’t really ready for it. Last month he could already run and slide in his trusty yellow walker. He’s most happy when he’s in it, and that’s when I realized that my son likes to explore his environment.

Daniel has a sunny personality– he flashes a big smile at everyone who greets him. He laughs at the most trivial things, like when I cough, make faces, or even say “peekabo” without the peeking part. He is indeed the life in our household!

Daniel’s August 2008 milestones:

1. He is able to self feed a bread stick or whatever it is that he get his hands on to

2. His favorite syllables to babble are da-da-da, ma-ma-ma, and ta-ta-ta

3. He smiles at everyone who greets him. He’s just a happy baby!

4. He produces this adorable razzing sound a

5. He has become more interactive with the people around him

6. Tries to reach for his toys

7. Had his first solid foods. Surprisingly, he doesn’t like papaya. His usual diet consists of mashed banana or mashed potato. He also likes vegetable broth, orange juice and apple juice.

8. He can already recognize his name. He easily turns to someone who calls him Daniel.

9. He likes to play peekaboo with Mommy and wrestle with Daddy

10. He laughs at my silly faces

11. Can already close and open his hands

12. He can already sit with the help of people around him

13. He has this penchant for sleeping on his tummy

14. He’s still an easy baby– easy to take care, easy to put to sleep and easy to feed