Fifi

Some years ago, I read The Temperament God Gave You by Art Bennett, in an attempt to understand my husband and children a bit better.  Because, you know,  I have this completely unselfish goal of being a better wife and mother. 

Ahem.

So, of the four different temperaments addressed in the book (choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, and sanguine), the only one I was able to truly recognize in any of my kids was "sanguine".  Not because I AM sanguine (good heavens, no--phlegmatic all the way here), but because a sanguine person is super cheerful and is crushed when those around him are not enjoying life to the fullest.

And THAT, my dear readers, is my Sophia Clare (a.k.a. "Fifi"). 

My labor and delivery of Sophia was the longest in Hollingshead History.  The nurse who admitted me when I arrived in labor went home soon after, only to return 16 hours later while I was about to start pushing.  I'm sure she was only trying to lighten the mood when she said "You're STILL here?"

I was so weak by the end that I was talking to Sophia, encouraging her, hoping that maybe she would just climb out on her own without any more pain and effort on my part. 

But here's the really beautiful thing about my 5th daughter:  she smiled at me almost immediately after she was born.  I'm not talking the cute, sleepy, gassy smile that you see newborns exhibit in their unconsciousness.  My Sophia Clare looked me right in the eye and grinned. 

And she's never stopped.