Not Again!

Well, Iain has a cold again. Poor little guy! Although it is not nearly as bad as the last one - this time there's no fever, he's still fairly happy and is breathing better than last time. He slept for a long time this afternoon, so hopefully that'll help him get better! Shannon, I'd guess we'd better postpone that walk again. :)

Other than that, I don't have too much to report. Sleeping at night is going moderately better. I think we're down to him waking about 3-4 times a night? But who can count well in the midnight hours?

Here are a few pictures for your perusing pleasure.

Finally, the end of the dedication pictures:




Iain with his second-cousins Zach, Grace, and Aleah, respectively.



Last two, I promise:

General News

News from the baby front: we started Iain on rice cereal before bed, in our unflagging efforts to get the boy to sleep. I am continually amazed at how well he does on so little sleep. "The books" say he should be sleeping 4-5 hours a day. He does really well if he gets 2.5-3. Yet he still is, on the whole, a very happy baby. I know there's no textbook baby and maybe he just needs less than most his age, but I know it's not enough for him because he still gets cranky, especially when he wakes up. We have a strange kid on our hands (but a good one!). Anyway, back to the rice cereal: it seems to help a bit. Iain doesn't eat much at a time; he still hasn't figured out the whole swallowing thing with his tongue. But he likes it and leans forward for more, getting frustrated at the slowness of the meal and his own inability to swallow well. He had a meltdown tonight - just too hungry and tired to fool with that cereal nonsense! But nonetheless, the past few nights have been a moderate amount better, so we'll keep up the before-bed snack. Here's Iain's first cereal experience.


Other developmental milestones: he has discovered his feet, though they have yet to make it to his mouth. By the way, in this picture, Iain is sporting his cloth diapers (called FuzziBunz - terrible name, I know!). WE're still using them and still enjoying the convenience and economy they provide.
And finally, today Iain has started trying to sit up. In his swing, carseat and stroller, he leans forward and gets displeased if we restrain him . :) He sure is an opinionated young fellow.

And a few cute ones for fun.

In other news, the house is coming along...at a snail's pace. We're turning more paperwork in to the city tomorrow. Hopefully that'll be the last batch they require before giving us the permit and thus the go-ahead to start construction. The comes grading, plumbing, pouring slab, building, etc, etc. But at least we'll see progress then instead of just waiting on paperwork.

That's all for now. Happy Sunday!

Baby Dedication

Today was Iain's baby dedication, held at our church. It was a great service, fairly short (which was good because the eight squirmy babies who were dedicated couldn't stand too much), attended by family and a few friends. We wrote a short "letter" or "vow" to Iain, copied below. We're so thankful for him and for all of you who invest in his, and our, lives.

Iain, our gracious gift from God, we dedicate you now to Jesus Christ. We will provide you with a home where Jesus is loved and obeyed, where God’s love, truth and laughter have free reign and where you will be prepared for the mission God has for you. We believe that you will be a witness for Christ in your generation.
We will raise you with a knowledge of God’s Word, an awareness of His Presence, a sensitivity to His Voice, and an unquenchable love for Him. You will be a man of wisdom and foresight and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free. We love you, Iain!

And a few pictures from the day (more to come later).

Jeremy's family and mine at the dedication:

Iain's buddy Noah and his mom Lauren:

The cool new shades, a gift from Grammy and Papa. So funny.


P.S. To those of you who are close friends and didn't attend the dedication: the chapel was very small and filled with family of eight babies. Please know that if we could have, we would have invited everyone who is special to us! We love you!

Four Months Old

Iain is four months old today. His newest accomplishment? Laughing out loud. It's adorable. He does it mostly when I tickle his tummy, but today, the little fellow laughed for quite a while at his aunt Haylee. The first time he did it, it made my day. :) So cute. (When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into thousands of pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. If anyone can name the quote, they win.)

Keep praying for sleep for all of us. Maybe that'll be another birthday milestone. One can always hope, right?

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of our sweet boy. Some are funny; some are cute; one looks like he's ready to punch someone's lights out. Maybe the sleep deprivation is making him grumpy, too? :)

Oops! I Almost Forgot...

 Life at the Brannon Household in a Nutshell (because I'm sleepy!)

1. We're really working on this sleep thing with Iain. He wakes up a crazy amount of times per night and he's wearing us both out. So I'm reading everything I can on how to get babies to sleep without letting them cry it out, and we're trying new ideas. The current plan is supposed to be in effect for ten days and then re-evaluated. Pray that it works.

2. I started teaching again this week, three classes: two sewing and one SAT Prep. They all went well and today was delightfully hectic. There is a difference between hectic and delightfully hectic, and it was nice to be busy in a non-overwhelmed way. Also good to see baby Caiden. the Walter and Welsh clans, etc. I miss visiting with Circle people. It's like a part of my family that I don't often get to see.

3. Our dryer broke. The belt, I think. I attempted to fix it myself this evening (the DIY site on the internet made it look fairly easy) but was interrupted by an unusally fussy baby. I'll try again tomorrow and feel quite the handy- um, woman, if I can do it. I think it'll be tricker than it looked.

That's all for now, folks. Here's a fairly recent photo to keep grandparents coming back for more: Iain and his second-cousin Jessica in their Tennessee Vols outfits.

Cloth Diapers and Christmas Pictures

Well, we've made the switch. Iain is now a cloth diaper baby, and so far, so good. We had heard nothing but horror stories from most everyone but thought we'd give it a try anyway, and with the new improved diapers they've come out with, it's actually really easy. We're glad it's working out so well as regular diapers sure are pricey.

I don't have any new pictures for this post, but I'll post a few more good ones from Christmas.

Iain with his grandma (who has yet to choose a grandmotherly name for herself!):

Even with his new toys and fun wrapping paper to play with, Iain was most fascinated with his dad's cds. This made us laugh and made Jeremy proud of his boy's good taste.
Me with my snuggle-bug:
And finally, Iain in his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes:
P.S. We're still struggling with Iain and sleep. He just doesn't do it very well. Pray for us to have wisdom and for him to sleep.

Baby's First Christmas

We're home! After a week of traveling, we made it back home last week.

We're well! Baby's First Christmas turned into Baby's First Cold - which we all caught - but we're nearly better now. A sick baby makes for lots of work. :)

So. We spent the first part of Christmas in Tennessee, with my family. No snow, unfortunately, but we had a good time visiting, eating lots of good food, etc. Here are some highlights.

The family on its way to church on Christmas Eve morning:
My favorite Christmas picture:
Iain in his Christmas present from his mom and dad - a Johnny Jump-Up (and whoever invented these didn't know Iain. He jumps and spins and throws himself around so that he needs someone watching to make sure he doesn't bang into the door frame!):
Cute baby lying in the remnants of Christmas cheer:
Just plain adorable:
After Tennessee, we drove down to Bradenton to spend a few days with Jeremy's parents. Unfortunately, this is where Iain's cold kicked in. Consequently, I don't have many pictures, as any I took would have been of a sad little baby. But here is one of Iain opening his presents from Grammy and Papa:
A highlight of that trip was Papa telling Iain the story of Jesus' birth. They have a felt Nativity, so Iain got to hold whichever character was being talked about at the moment. He didn't want to give the angel back. And his favorite thing to do with the three wise men was corrall them with his feet. :)

In other news, during bath time today, our little man found that kicking and splashing is fun. (He used to just lie there, smiling occasionally, but mostly just looking around.) He got me and the bathroom floor wet with all his thrashing, but the grin punctuated with looks of concentration was worth its weight in gold.