At Addison’s last therapy session, I confessed that it just didn’t seem like he was progressing. At times the milestones seem so slow in coming, it feels like we’ve pushed the pause button.

“No. No,” said the therapist as he taped animals and toys to the white board and encouraged Addy to climb up to them. “His development is really good. What Addison has is a lot of quality in each step. It is better to develop slowly and do it correctly than to rush and then walk all funny the rest of his life.”

I know that. I knew that. And I am certain Addison will walk. There’s not a shred of doubt in me, and I don’t walk circles around the house mumbling how slow it’s going. We do our daily exercises; cherish Addy in our little family fold; take baths, play, and eat like other kids. But I never knew it could be this slow. All of a sudden another 3 or 4 months go by and I’m a little surprised he’s not walking yet.

As I watch my son learn to walk, I am humbled and educated at the same time at what an incredible feat it is. I see soldiers come home from Iraq without legs, and they are right in the position of my son. The muscles, the neurons, the balance, determination, and the concentration it takes to connect pieces looks effortless when we have all our parts, but it’s is one of the hardest tasks out there when you’ve got a missing leg or born with an extra chromosome. With Addison’s older sister, I thought about walking for a few months, like every mother does. At eleven months she was up. And down. And up again. Then she was off, and I never had to think about it again.

The parallels I can apply to my own life are endless. And as I watch Addy climb that mountain and come face to face with the ladybug; I learn how to approach my new life with tranquility, even when I fall. And when I stumble so far, so far down that I think I can’t find the strength to put one foot in front of another, there’s my little son leading the way and teaching me how to put one foot in front of the other as if to say: Hit the play button mom! Get on with it!