Thank God for Lucy!

There have been plenty of times when I have thanked God for Lucy. Crawling back into bed after seeing to Oliver in the night for the umpteenth time as Lucy slept soundly; looking at her contented smile as other people's babies wailed; seeing her eat every last drop of Weetabix after hearing tales of woe from other parents.

But today we literally thanked God for Lucy. We went to St Pauls church where she will be Christened next month and they included a thanksgiving for her in the service.

We had to stand at the front of the church and in ritualistic fashion answer a few questions from the vicar - a lady called Chris - as Lucy lay asleep in her carrier on Hayley's chest. Oliver joined us at the front, but only after I carried him there with him audibly telling me "I don't want to go. I don't want to go." He'd been having far too much fun in the little play area next to our pews with his friend Cara. While the rest of us were being asked to consider our sins, Cara and Oliver could be heard happily singing "Two little ducks went swimming one day, over the pond and far away...". Actually, now I think of it, he and Cara are a bit of a musical item. The pair of them sing songs together like that perfectly, which is something I haven't seen him do with anyone else. But I digress...

When we reached centre-stage I put Oliver down and after attempting to reach the microphone next to me, he wandered off to engage the first two rows of the congregation in conversation. He had been telling us all morning we were going to talk to God about Lucy. Perhaps he was telling them the same, or perhaps he was telling them about Barney.

Afterwards we went to the church hall next door (where Oliver and Lucy go to a playgroup each week) and had a cup of tea and biscuits, the latter being the only reason I was able to persuade Oliver to leave the church.

I told Oliver this morning that after the Christening we would be having a party with all his friends. "My friends!" he replied with a smile. It's funny to realise that he really is starting to make friends and even has favourites, changeable though they might be.

So Lucy's party will probably be somewhat hijacked by Oliver and all his cohorts. I am already looking forward to the chaos that is going to ensue. I'm not sure St Paul's will have ever seen anything like it.

But no matter what the toddlers do, they won't steal the limelight from the little lady. She is just too adorable for that.