Dear John,

When Children are baptized at the Easter Vigil, the rite of receiving the children is celebrated "at a convenient time and place before the Easter Vigil"  (Rite of Baptism for Children, n. 28)  This would include the anointing with the Oil of Catechumens, and is likely what you saw.  (even though in my personal opinion it's a little early...)  I don't believe that the Creed should have been omitted though, since the renewal of baptismal promises doesn't take place at the rite of reception.

Oh, and about the solemn high mass..  well of course there is no longer an "official" distinction made in the reformed Liturgy, but we can still use "high mass" to describe the way we celebrate Mass on more important occasions, such as the ordination of a Bishop, to any Sunday at all or any feast/solemnity regardless on what day it falls.

But the amount of grandeur and accoutrements depends on the decision normally of the celebrant.. and as you said, praise God it seems we are moving in a direction of MORE solemnity and LESS experimentation, I've certainly seen it first hand myself and have heard similar stories from other dioceses.

As for your weekly Sunday liturgies, at the parish level, you certainly have a right to express your preference for more solemnity on Sundays.  The more people ask for it, the more likely we'll continue to move in the right direction.

As for your question about the timeline..  well the celebration of the Liturgy involves a LOT of people, and usually whenever a lot of people are involved change is slow..  but that's not a rule!  Every diocese is different, my own diocese has seen TREMENDOUS improvement over the last fifteen years, and every year it seems there is something new (and by new I of course mean something OLD...  TRADITIONAL LOL)

Mr. Slavek