or, I think I might have given my daughter the wrong name.

Since I outed the girls' names a few entries back, I thought I would discuss something that has been a topic of discussion around these parts lately. It appears that we may have given Mimiclaus the wrong name.

Let me go back.

Alliclaus was named after Sarah and Naomi's mom, who died my senior year of college. Her name was Joy. And since the Spanish word for Joy is "Gozo," we opted instead to use the Spanish word for happiness. They do not, strictly speaking, mean the same thing, but they do elicit the same response, one I love.

"She is her name."

Joy got that a lot and I'm pleased to say that, at least among Spanish speakers, Alliclaus does as well.

In any case, once we gave our first child a virtue name, we were inclined to do the same for other children as well. So while I was pregnant with Mimiclaus, we came up with other virtue names we liked. Hope (Esperanza), Charity (Caridad), Faith (Fe). But we settled on a short list: Peace or Justice. And we couldn't decide. We like to see the babies before we finalize a name decision, so we waited.

Things were very easy with Mimiclaus' delivery. And she went right to the breast, which was something about which I had been deeply concerned after extensive problems with Alliclaus in that department. It seemed that Peace was the most appropriate name.

I was wrong.

Because, you see, Alliclaus' earliest days were difficult. I was sick my entire pregnancy. I had a 19-hour labor and a 4th degree tear. But she was a delightful baby. She slept easily and was happy to sit in a bouncy seat or be held. She didn't express a strong preference for anything, really. She was an easy baby.

So, while Peace does describe my pregnancy and delivery with Mimiclaus, I believe she is perfectly described as Justice. Because since coming home, Mimiclaus has been quite the opposite of Alliclaus. She has a strong preference about EVERYTHING. She wants to be held - by me - all day long. She sleeps only when she has cried in our arms for hours.

On the plus side, she's mastering gross motor skills on the standard timetable, somthing Alliclaus never did. I say that to make it clear that her justice swings in both directions.

What really kills me about this whole thing is that Andres didn't want to name Mimiclaus Justice for this very reason. He would say, "But Alliclaus was so easy. Do we really want to tempt fate?"

And we learned, as Oedipus did, that you cannot escape your fate. (And we don't even believe in fate.) We were going to have a difficult baby no matter the name we chose.

Still. We rarely get the "She is her name" comment about Mimiclaus. Peaceful is not how most people would describe her. And I wonder. If we ever have another, what exactly would Justice be for this situation? Could I hope for another easy baby? Because, I gotta tell you, having the easy baby first is not the way to go.