My Baptism

Today was a very big day for me. It was my baptism! All my family came to my house to visit us and join in this day. I got to meet my Aunt Leslie - she's my Mom's good friend from college and now she's my Godmother! And my Parin, Mom's brother, came back to see me, too. I also got to meet my other grandparents. Dad's mom is Gram, and his dad is Grandpa. Oh, and this funny guy also came - his name is Fr. Wayne. I'll tell you later about what he did to me today.



So, Mom and Dad brought me to church again today (I'm seeing a trend here!). But this time everyone came with us! And more of Mom and Dad's friends were at the church, too. Aunt Leslie held me at the beginning of Mass. That was when Fr. Wayne put some oily stuff on me. He called it the Oil of Catechumen. I was sleeping, so it really didn't bother me. Then Mom, Dad, Parin, and Aunt Leslie all made a cross on my forehead. I slept through that, too. Later, Mom and Grannie took me out of church and took all my clothes off and wrapped me in a big white towel. Then they brought me back into church. Fr. Wayne asked Mom, Dad, Aunt Leslie, and Parin a bunch of questions, then they took me to the back of the church. And that's when the fun started! Fr. Wayne took me out of my nice warm towel in Mom's arms and dunked me in the water -- not once, but three times! Mom wrapped me back up in the warm towel, then Fr. Wayne put a big handful of fragrant oil on my head. He lit a candle and gave it to Parin and Aunt Leslie. And finally, Mom, Dad, and Grannie took me back out of church to put some clothes on me. They put this white gown on me. It was my Mom's gown she wore when she was baptized 27 years ago! And guess where we went next?? Back into church again!



I slept in Mom's lap for a while. Then Fr. Wayne came back and took me from Mom. He showed me to all the people there and told them I was a new member of their faith community. Then he took my pacifier out of my mouth and gave me another one (and he kept mine!). I don't know why, but Mom, Dad, Parin, and Aunt Leslie all hated the new one he gave me. I don't think I liked it either, but they didn't give me enough time to find out. As soon as he could find another of my pacifiers, Parin switched it out for me. I haven't seen the other one since then, and I have a feeling no one ever will!



After Mass was over, we all went to another room. All the big people ate food. Lots of people looked at me, talked to me, and held me. I don't know who they all were, but they seemed pretty happy to see me. I humored them. And finally, I got to go home and take a nap! It was a long day! Have a look at some of the pictures from today...

This is when Fr. Wayne dunked me in the water.
At least it was warm water!

After he took me out of the water, he gave me back to Mom.

Then he put oil on my head.

Then he lit a candle and gave it to Parin and Aunt Leslie.

This is when he switched the pacifier.
I don't know what the big deal was.

I was smiling at Fr. Wayne when he took me from Mom.

This is when he presented me to the church.