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.

Iain, Noah, and Christmas

So this is Iain and his friend Noah. Noah is about six weeks older than Iain and his mom Lauren and I have fun watching the two of them together. They sometimes ignore each other, but when they interact, it's adorable!

Anyway, here they are with Lauren while I was making lunch for us.
And playing on the floor - note Iain's ear-grabbing tactics!
And finally, the boys with their finished stockings. Iain's is a dancing penguin, and Noah's has a Santa head and reindeer head. Too cute!



We finally put the ornaments on the tree (it had been sitting there with lights and tinsel for a while). Iain watched attentively as the tree was trimmed. Note the look of intense concentration as he studied the ornament. :) (Grammy, do you recognize it?)


Hope you all have a merry Christmas!

Disney Trip

On Friday, Jeremy's aunt Gloria took Yaya (Jeremy's grandmother), Iain and I to Disney where she works at the Grand Floridian Hotel. We had a really delicious breakfast there, met some of the ladies she works with, got pictures of Iain with the characters, and shopped at some of the "cast members only" stores. It was a fun and busy day.

Iain didn't react at all to the characters, but it was fun to take his picture with them anyway. Note on the Pooh picture: Iain really wasn't about to fall off the table; it just looks that way. :)




In front of the Christmas tree in the hotel. Notice the crying Iain - ready for his meal!
A tired baby on the ride home:
And one more picture. Compare this with the other bath picture (in the post called "Bathtime, Etc") and see how much he's grown! He turned three months old on Thursday.

Fun Times with Iain

Iain is getting to be quite a fun fellow! He smiles, grabs for toys, laughs, and loves to talk. When he starts saying words, I don't know if he'll ever stop. :) Here are some pictures of fun times with the boy:

Playing "Ride a Little Pony" with Iain:
His cute Santa hat:
The Bumbo. Jeremy's aunt Gloria saw a baby ina restaurant in one of these and thought it was great. She got one for Iain; he's just now holding up his head enough to use it. He seems to like the new perspective on the world that it gives him. It's been fun to sit him on the table in it when we eat - he looks like a little chubby king on his throne.


And a preview for the next entry: My friend Lauren (see previous post "Bathtime, Etc.") and I have been working on Christmas stockings for "the boys." We finished today and wanted to take a picture, but Iain was napping. (Yes, napping! We're making progress!) So hopefully we'll be able to get a picture of them soon and you can see our amazing stocking-making skills. It was a fun project, though.

Happy Wednesday!

Still Working on Naptime!

The past few days have still been fussy ones. Iain is letting us know that he has opinions! Since about Thursday, I've been trying to get him to go down for naps at somewhat regular times - sometimes we have more success than other times. :) Right now, he's in his crib complaining but not crying... go to sleep, Iain!

Work on the house continues. This weekend, Mr Walter and Jeremy put in a new front door for us. Important because we couldn't pour slab on the side until we could get in the front. This week, we plan to choose a plumber and hopefully get that work started. Then the slab. Then the framing in and we'll be on our way.

Our only other news is that school is almost over for the year. We're looking forward to Christmas break, so we can regroup, catch up, and spend some time together. It's been a busy semester and we're ready for a break.

Fussy Days and Long Nights

That's been our week so far. Iain has decided that sleeping is for the birds and he'd just rather not. Catnaps during the day, a few hours at night, and he thinks he's good to go. Unfortunately, it (or something) is making his quite a fussy little fellow. Today we tried the swing, being outside on a blanket, the bouncy seat, taking a walk... he'd be distracted for a short time, but then he'd remember his fussiness and that would be the end of that. At night, he sleeps well for a few hours, and fitfully and with many wake-ups after that. Hopefully it's just a phase....?

Jeremy and Iain:

The Anatomy of a Roll

Step one: lie on belly with head held high, all the while, looking cute.
Step two: begin to lean to one side, making sure to look cute while doing so.
Step three: kick legs over, looking cute at the same time.
Step four: end on back, and add satisfied expression to original cute one.
Yes, last night, Iain rolled over for the first (and second, and third, and fourth) time. He was mighty pleased with himself and cooed and laughed after he made it onto his back. I think he's glad to know how to roll over because he never really liked "tummy time" to begin with - now he doesn't have to put up with it when he doesn't want to!

In other news,the red van died on I-4 (Iain and I had to hike back up the road to the nearest exit where my mom came and picked us up.). We were sad to see the faithful Monstro (my name for it, not Jeremy's, as he'd like me to make clear) go, but we're greatly enjoying our new van. We bought it used from some friends from my old church. It's a '97 and much nicer than any vehicle either of us has owned before!

And Iain has been enjoying his bouncy seat. It plays music and he kicks to make the toys dance. He smiles and has grabbed the toy once or twice. Usually, though, he just waves his arms and watches the toys move as he kicks.
Bundled up and smiling at Dad: