ZOE van der Molen has a smile on her face and a glint in her eye.
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After four and a half months, Zoe came out of the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital last week and is starting to discover the outside world with her parents and grandmother by her side.
She has been receiving treatment for leukodystrophy, a degenerative disorder that breaks down a protective layer around nerves.
Sadly, her older sister, Lucy, lost her life to the disorder three months ago tomorrow.
Dad Daniel van der Molen said signs were looking positive for eight-month-old Zoe.
The Legana-based family have set up a home away from home at the Bone Marrow Donor Institute House, about a 10-minute walk from the children's hospital.
"It's kind of our step to normal life, I suppose," Mr van der Molen said.
"It's nice to be in one spot together.
"Before we were taking it in turns at the hospital staying each night, doing one night out of three - my mum is over here as well helping out.
"We've noticed that she has been a lot better in herself, just being out of the hospital and getting into more of a routine; she's sleeping better at night and having more awake time because there's so much more going on at home."
Because of her bone marrow transplant, which took place in June, Zoe's immune system is vulnerable.
But that doesn't stop her exploring the big wide world.
``She hasn't really seen the outside world yet because she was four months old when she went in and she's eight-and-a-half now - she sort of spent the first half of her life in a hospital bed,'' Mr van der Molen said.
``We go out for walks or up to the park. She loves just being out of the hospital, whether we're in the apartment or going for a walk.
``Whenever we go out we have to put the rain covers on the pram, chuck that on and limit her exposure to public areas because she's still at an infection risk.''
Their North Melbourne apartment has become a quarantine area in itself, with dad, mum Olivia and grandmother Suzanne always with sanitising gel at the ready.
``It's a bit fastidious but it's only for the first 12 months after a transplant,'' Mr van der Molen said.
``If any friends or anyone wants to come and see us, they have to be fit and healthy. If they have just a niggling of a cold - nup, don't come near us.''
The family are set to spend the next few months in Melbourne while doctors closely monitor Zoe's condition.
``It's wait-and-see as to how she is going as far as her oxygen requirements overnight and her general health,'' Mr van der Molen said.
``They've also done a big set of bloods (that we're waiting on), and once we get them back that'll tell us exactly how well her graft's going. It's a big indicator of how it's all going.''