Talia

Talia is doing well.  Home a week and she is showing more and more of her personality.  She has some medical needs that we have to address. She is very thin.  She will not eat solid food. She will eat oatmeal and cream of wheat. She likes soups with bread mixed in. Yogurt, applesauce and thinks like this.  She takes liquids from a bottle. Yep! 9 years old and still on a bottle.  To be honest I am glad she has that bottle because she will take anything I put in it!  Some newly adopted children will refuse food and she is not so I am glad!  She will let me spoon feed her but only certain things and she is not into feeding herself anything right now.  Her teeth look really bad. I have been daily working with her to get used to tooth paste and the feel of the toothbrush in her mouth. She does NOT like it and if I brush too much (which is not much at all) her gums bleed. Her breath is real bad. Ironically as a parting gift from the family care home she lived in she got a toothbrush and toothpaste. I wish they had actually used them with her. Dental is a priority.  She can walk and fairly well when she wants too.  It is an awkward gait but gets her where she wants to go.  She has a spunky little personality at times and I am seeing it more and more.  Today she seemed sad.  I am not sure why and she can't tell me but she seemed withdrawn this morning.  When we picked her up from the orphanage she had terrible gas. Terrible is an understatement.  Her little stomach would bloat up so big it was alarming.  I don't know what they were feeding her but we don't seem to have that issue much anymore.  She has actually gained some weight. I can tell by the way her ribs and shoulders look.  We weighed her and she is a whopping 28 pounds.  She has long arms and torso.  Skinny legs and tiny feet.  One foot is much smaller than the other and curved. She has so much scar tissue on her feet I am not sure how much she can feel.  She has an infectious giggle which I love!  She loves to lay her head on a toy and listen to music.  Her tummy is ticklish.  She has some sensory issues and she rocks a lot. She also has a sound she makes.  Daddy calls it her race car sound because it sounds like she is playing cars and even changing gears but when she does it she pulls her  hands to her face. I have discovered that if I can get her hands away from her face she will stop.  If I can distract her and get her to start clicking her tongue the noise will stop.  I thought at first that she did it when she is upset but really she sometimes plays and smiles while humming as if she doesn't realize she is even doing it. She is learning new things every day!  I sure do love this girlie!