Busy, busy, but with good news

Dear friends,

I apologize for my delay in translating new posts! If you follow Vitoria's blog in Portuguese to see her pictures, you know there are new posts already, which I haven't translated yet.

So I wanted to leave you all a quick note telling you Vitoria is doing well. Joana and Marcelo took her to the orthopedist to see her club foot, and she doesn't need surgery. She started wearing a boot to straighten her foot and in 2 months she'll be done! This is great news. She wasn't very happy during the first week with the boot, and she even had a hard time eating and sleeping, until mommy and daddy saw her little toes were a bit swollen. The boot was too tight. The doctor said they could remove the boot in case something was wrong, so they did and Vicky was able to sleep the whole night again!
Last week she put a new boot, this time not so tight, and she is doing well.

She also started physiotherapy to help her strengthen her back and neck muscles. She goes to the sessions three times a week, so you can imagine how busy mommy is.

Please check Vitoria's channel on youtube. Joana recently posted a video of Vitoria drinking orange juice and I just adore seeing it. She loved OJ from the very first time she tried it, and you can totally tell it by the way she eagerly sucks the nipple of the bottle in this video.

She also received some visitors and even went to her first party. It was a birthday party. Mommy did something with the pictures, and we might not have them to post them here, BUT we'll post the ones that are already on at Vicky's blog in Portuguese.

Thank you so much for your kind messages and your prayers. I've been reading all the blogs my sister follows and I've been amazed by the faith and courage all the parents behind these blogs have demonstrated.

I have also been thinking of how privileged we are for having Vitoria with us, what a gift of God she is to us all. God allowed her to stay, and she's been growing and developing in ways no one (especially the doctors) could have ever imagined.
Every day Vitoria lives is a testimony of God's mercy. It is also a testimony of a mother and a father who decided to celebrate life while life existed, and who were blessed with a miracle called Vitoria de Cristo Schmitz Croxato.