Little Miracles

Yesterday I had more kiddo-s on my schedule than normal. I saw my little peanut who is 4 years old and is 2 feet 6 inches tall, then a 6 year old with spina bifida and lastly a 22 month old who was just diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
The last little girl of my day, I'll call her "A"....was evaluated by me with a diagnosis of "developmental delay". At evaluation she was noted to have several characteristics of trunk and gluteal weakness and was yet to speak more than 1 or 2 words. I started teaching her Mom how to help strengthen her tummy and rear in hopes that with directed strenghtening and potentially some shoe inserts or small braces she would walk.....albeit late. When she was evaluated by neurology, a diagnosis of spastic diplegia CP was given. I took this one really hard. I saw the "cluster" of symptoms but felt she still did not "fit" into the diagnostic pattern.....none the less, this one hit me and I felt I had failed this family. Mom was blind-sided and hurt by the diagnosis. However, I told her....in a way it was a blessing....now I could get her the braces I felt she needed, because she now had a 'label' that allows Kaiser to pay for the braces.
"A" came in yesterday with Mom and Dad (I had never met Dad) and they were both smiling ear to ear. Mom told me......"She is walking". I was shocked, surprised, thrilled. Sure enough, they put her in standing and using her motivation to get to Mom or Dad she would take steps to get to either of them. It is still not a "pretty" walk, and I think it will be SO much better with some small braces, but none the less.....
There is something about this little one that gets me. Part of it is that I felt I failed them, part of it was that I believed she would walk anyways, and alas she has.
The ultimate capper to my day was my co-worker's wife and 3 year old daughter who stopped by. I actually just stood and watched her play......it was so refreshing to see a normal child, who could talk to me and had no physical limitations.....