Lucy's Christening Party CD

We made a CD for Lucy's Christening party, split between tracks that meant something to us connected with Lucy and tracks that Oliver likes. Belatedly, I thought I would document it.

1. "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" The Beatles. When Hayley was pregnant with Oliver we knew that if we had a girl she would be a Lucy. And of course we always refer to her as "Lucy diamond" or "our diamond"

It seems odd now, knowing Oliver's personality so well - and knowing how different Lucy is - it seems nonsense to imagine that Oliver might ever have been a Lucy... he was always himself. And I realise that I now think of him as being himself even before birth. This is probably reinforced by things like his love of spicy food which aligns with Hayley being able to eat it while he was in the womb. I think also that seeing how different my children are in personality from the very start, makes me realise just how much the blueprint of who we are is mapped out long before birth.

2. "Blue Eyes" Elton John. The little lady has the most beautiful blue eyes and this song always reminds me of her. Dancing to this tune with her in my arms at the Christening party was one of the highlights of the day for me.

3. "Girls just wanna have fun" Cyndi Lauper. The little lady is full of smiles and laughter.

4. "With Every Heartbeat" Robyn and Kleerup. This song was Number 1 when Lucy was born.

5. "Mathematics" Cherry Ghost. Reminds me of last Spring, clearing space in the house and preparing for our new arrival.

6. "Stop in the name of Love" The Supremes. This is the first of three songs for Oliver. He grew to love them while watching The One and Only on BBC1 a few months ago. This track in particular is his favourite. He frequently asks for it to be played in the car. In fact, we even sang it before I put him to bed tonight. I've noticed too that he can now sing in tune and hit a note at the first attempt when he sings along.

7 "Delilah" Tom Jones. It sounded bizarre this evening to hear Oliver in the back seat signing the song's finale: "So before they come to break down the door, Forgive me Delilah I just coudn't take any more". Of course he is more singing sounds than words in some cases, nonetheless it has a surreal quality, especially as he seems to know the words of this song from my own infancy better than I do.

8 "Son of a Preacher Man" Dusty Springfield. As soon as this comes on Oliver simply says "Dusty" with a big smile.

9 "Jolene" Dolly Prton. One of Oliver's old favourites but not so much in favour these days, unless Hayley joins in with exaggerated gusto in the chorus.

10. "We are family" Sister Sledge. What it says on the tin.