Two-year-old Savannah Stahlin brushed her blond curly hair Wednesday morning.

Her father wiped away tears.

Dr. Casey Poupard helped the toddler maneuver her left arm to its next activity, eating cereal out of a bowl decorated with Disney princesses.

“She’s never fed herself on a tray before,” said Savannah’s mother, Angie Stahlin, of Ann Arbor.

“I’ve tried everything."

Just 18 weeks into Angie’s pregnancy, Savannah was diagnosed with arthrogryposis. Children with the condition, which affects about 1 in 3,000 babies, have joints that do not move the way they’re supposed to or are locked into place.

When Savannah was born, she was unable to move her elbows, wrists or some of her fingers.

“We must have had 100 ultrasounds or something to check on her during the pregnancy and we were really worried because we knew the arms were going to be locked but we had never seen her move her legs so we were afraid they were locked as well,” Shannon Stahlin, Savannah’s father, said.

“But then she came out kicking. It was the first of many victories.”

Savannah’s two long scars on her triceps are the remains of twin surgeries shortly after birth known as tendon releases that allow her elbows to bend as they are supposed to.

After the surgeries, Shannon and Angie had to bend Savannah’s elbows at least five times a day to make sure that she gained proper range of motion.

“So now she can passively move her arms, meaning you or I could do it for her, but actively she doesn’t have the bicep contraction to make that happen,” Poupard said.

“It’s not connected properly so she can’t do it on her own.”

Poupard works at the University of Michigan Pediatric Rehabilitation Center. Upbeat children fill the boisterous clinic tucked away in northwest Ann Arbor, performing stretches, riding exercise bikes, rehabilitating from injuries and learning to use their muscles.

Savannah took a big step forward in that regard Wednesday when she tried the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX) for the first time. The device, developed at the Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children in Delaware, helps people move limbs using less muscle power.

“It can compensate for the muscles she has that don’t work properly and make it easier for her weaker muscles to do their job,” Poupard said.

“The muscles that do work will then be strengthened as she gets used to using them. Right now, she doesn’t have the motivation to use those muscles because she can’t really do much with them, so they only get weaker.”

Without having significant use of her arms, Savannah has developed a number of compensating mechanisms that have strengthened her legs and core muscles at the expense of her shoulders, biceps and forearms.

“We’ve had to change our perceptions of how she’s going to do things and just let her show us how she does it,” Angie said. “I didn’t think she’d be able to turn a page in a book, but then she did it with her feet.”

When Savannah came to the clinic for her initial evaluation, the doctors asked if she could take a toy out of a bowl.

“I said, ‘No, she can’t do that,’ ” Angie said.

“But then, they put it down in front of her, and she knocked it over with her feet and slid her hand in there and got it out anyway. So I guess she showed me.”

Those coping mechanisms have worked for Savannah thus far, but they have allowed her arm muscles to grow even weaker and could lead to damaging back conditions down the line.

“Using the WREX and constantly and repetitively using those muscles she’s supposed to be using will make her muscles stronger,” Poupard said.

“Eventually we can either find a way to get her to a point where she can compensate enough without using the WREX or she might continue using it as she gets older. It will depend on how she grows and develops.”

The condition can be life-threatening in children before birth and for the first year of life, but according to an arthrogryposis support organization the majority of people who make it past their first birthday enjoy a normal lifespan.

“It’s not something that’s progressive or degenerative,” Shannon said. “She’s constantly improving and medicine, the medical world, is also constantly improving.”

Savannah’s parents have been actively searching for ways to help their daughter’s development ever since they learned of the diagnosis. They first heard about the WREX, which her father referred to as "magic arms," over the winter at a conference in Minnesota for parents of children with arthrogryposis.

The couple talked to Poupard, who reached out to Jaeco Orthopedic, the device’s manufacturer. The company, based in Hot Springs, Arkansas, had previously only fabricated the device for teens and adults and only started making models for toddlers and small children about three years ago.

Jaeco sent one WREX arm to the rehabilitation center for a 30-day trial period, where the spouse of a therapist put together a custom base for the device.

At first glance, the machine looks like a strange amalgamation of a metal arm splint and a rubber-band gun.

“When I saw it, I thought it might be kind of disappointing because it looked too heavy to help,” Shannon said. “But then, she was able to move with it, and it was just amazing to watch.”

The device uses the tension from the rubber bands to help people raise their arms more easily, while providing minimal resistance when they need to lower them again.

Savannah used her time with the WREX to eat a lollipop and complete a few other tasks.

Jacob, Savannah’s 5-year-old brother whom she calls Buddy, seemed uninterested in watching his sister color in her Disney princess coloring book, but he sprinted across the room when the opportunity came to give his little sister a high five.

The siblings’ parents beamed as they watched their youngest children share the simple hand gesture for the first time.

“When I see parents cry, I want to cry with them. The whole reason I got into this job was to use any and all things out there to help kids become more functionally independent,” Poupard said.

“To see Savannah—who has come so far already over the past two years of her life—to see her so easily do something she’s never done before, it just gives you chills. It’s what you hope for every day in this job.”

Angie and Shannon have already begun discussing how to acquire a set of WREX arms for Savannah that could be attached to a body brace so that they could be worn at all times.

The devices retail for more than $5,000 per arm, and Poupard said it is difficult to convince insurance companies they are a medical necessity.

“They definitely improve function,” she told the parents. “But that’s not always enough.”

In a one-hour appointment, Savannah’s parents believed they were given a glimpse into her future. As she colored in a pink dress on Princess Sophia, her father saw her writing a term paper. With each brush of hair, her mother saw a step to a normal adulthood.

“My goal was always for her to be able to live independently,” Angie said. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but she’ll go to school and be in regular classes and be herself. She’ll even drive.”

Shannon said he read about a man who is his age and had a similar case of arthrogryposis to Savannah.

“He’s a doctor now. He’s not a surgeon, but he’s a doctor. She can do anything she wants to do in life,” he said.

“We want her to be walking by kindergarten, and then the goal is, by the time she’s 18, that she can go and live on her own. Everything between or above, that is a bonus.”

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.