Have you ever had a hermit crab as a new pet??

Well, our baby girl is very much like a hermit crab….or a turtle.
When you first buy a hermit crab and bring it home, you don’t see it come out of it’s shell for a really long time, because they are scared of their new surroundings and owners. But, then when they get used to you they will pop their little eyes out and take a peek…and, maybe they will come out of their shell and walk around…esp. if you are the one who feeds them.
But, while walking around..if a new person (meaning one they haven’t seen in the past 15 minutes) walks in the room…they will POP right back in their shell and revert back to “shyness”. It takes a long time for them to feel comfortable enough and familiar enough with your face and expressions, smell and surroundings for them to freely walk around out of their shell.

Tahlia is starting to come out of her shell!! We get little peeks here and there of who she REALLY is! Her personality has been covered up with layers of fear. But, they are shedding….little by little. And. what a glorious sight it is to see her bloom!!!!

Last night, she was a different girl. I think having a good nap and a good #2 really did a lot for her comfort level!! We all went out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant (LOL….yeah, Brian is starting to “Italianize” her…even while still in China!) But, he doesn’t have to try very hard because she was dogging the Lasagna!!! She grabbed a spoon and just went to town!! We were amazed! I always thought it would be stressful to feel a cleft kiddo….but, not at all! She eats and drinks like it’s no big deal. She is such a little warrior with how she has adapted!
When we came back to the hotel lobby we started playing the “kissy game” where we each kiss each other in front of Tahlia, then she reaches in for a kiss too to be a part of the game. Well, she was totally kissing Brian too!! It was so sweet….and she was giggling her head off!

This morning, she woke up at 5am and just mommy got up to give her a bottle….and, after lots of cuddles and unsuccessful attempts to get her back to sleep…we decided to play. And, wow….she REALLY CAME OUT OF HER SHELL!!! This little lady has a wild side that is just waiting to fully emerge!!! She was walking around the hotel room (living area part) like she owned the place. She was playing with stacking cups, and knocking them over while giggling belly giggles. She was walking around the corner and taunting me to chase her and play peak-a-boo! She was throwing the ball with me and doing puzzles and even played the clean-up game! It was an amazing couple of hours, and I was in awe of the butterfly that had bloomed in from of me!

Have you ever seen the movie “50 first dates” with Drew Barrymore? Well, its about a girl who loses her memory each day and her boyfriend has to re-woo her each day to get her to like him.
Well, that’s kinda how it is for Tahlia every time she wakes up from a “sleep”. She wakes up weepy….sad, tearful and moaning. It breaks our hearts. We just hold her….snuggle and sing to her. And, Brian kinda starts at square one with trying to woo her…at her own pace. But, we are so encouraged. He really is making some ground!!!

Just today, we got out the stacking cups again after breakfast and started playing the “go get the cup” game. Where we basically throw it, and she has to go get it! She loved it! Well, then Brian would get a stacking cup and she would come to him and take it from him to go build towers with it!!! That was huge!!! He was even able to steal a kiss or too, and pick her up for a split second w/o her getting at all upset!!!
Yeah, his heart was going “pitter patter” all over the place! It was special moment!

I can’t tell you how it makes us feel to see her starting to trust us….and enjoy us and even giggle with us. It’s like a hug from heaven.

There is one thing that i need to share that I never even thought about before….and, didn’t expect such a strong emotion. She has this awful cut on her toe..it’s healing and scabby. But, it looks like the kind of cut that when it happened it was REALLY PAINFUL and hurt a lot!! It looks like it was pretty deep.:( So, every time I take off her socks and rub her lotion in and give her a little foot massage, I always kiss the boo-boo and ask her “what happened Tahlia??” I guess I never knew how sad it would make me to not be able to know the answer to that question. I don’t know how she got the boo-boo, and that hurts my heart. We’ve only had her for 5 days….yet, it feels like forever. It feels like she’s been our daughter since she was born. So, when I get a small reminder that she has so much past that I have no idea about, questions that will never be answered, boo-boos that I will never know about…..I have to trust that the Lord has protected her. Though, her mommy and daddy haven’t been able to be with her, we know the Lord has set her aside for us and kept her safe. We trusted Him to bring us to her, and now we trust her past to Him as well.
We asked as many questions as we could of her orphanage….but, in China…everything is pretty much closed off….not many answers are given.
But, she is with us now…..and we will look forward while allowing her to grieve the past. We will always encourage her to talk about her birth story, her adoption story and to ask as many questions as she wants to. It’s her testimony and story…not ours. We are just so glad to be a part of it…..what an incredible gift.

Here’s today’s Tahlia picture album:
(you can see her starting to emerge from her shell….t’is a beautiful thing!)

Tahlia day 6 (lots of smiles and playing)

Here’s a video of her morning playtime with momma