Milestones

When Madison was around two years we noticed that she wasn't talking the way most other children her age were. We had her development evaluated and found that while she was meeting most of her physical development milestones she wasn't on track socially or cognitively. As our oldest child and  first guinea pig, we weren't sure quite what to expect so it took us a little longer than it should have to see that she needed some extra help.

From that point until she was in fourth grade she spent time in therapy for speech and social skills as well as occupational therapy to help her develop better balance and coordination. When it was time for her to start kindergarten we were actually advised to wait another year before enrolling her so she could have more time to catch up to where she should be. Instead of waiting a year we decided to go ahead and start kindergarten at the normal time, thinking that if she wasn't successful she could always spend a second year in kindergarten. Thankfully all that time working with different therapists paid off and she sailed through kindergarten and continued to love school.

Look at this cute girl on her very first day of kindergarten in Cheyenne, Wyoming!

Here we are, thirteen years later and we have a high school graduate ready to take on the world - or college at the very least!

We were so lucky to have both sets of Madison's grandparents here to celebrate with her on the big day. After having lived away from our extended family for so many years it's both strange and sweet to be able to be together for special times like these.

I'm pretty sure the only time Madison feels tall is when she's standing next to her sweet Grandma Moran!
Madison was lucky enough to go on an epic road trip to Wyoming with her Grandpa and Gram Keeffer just a few days after graduation. I like to imagine that every moment of that trip was as filled with as much joy as this moment after her graduation ceremony.
And finally Madison and her wonderful Grandpa Moran

These pictures don't show the absolute confusion that ensued after the ceremony as we tried to find Madison! The graduates left the building first and we were told to meet them in the courtyard and which door to exit through. So we waited till all the kids had filed out and then went out the designated door which led us not to a courtyard at all, but to a baseball field and a parking lot. There were not young people in caps and gowns but there were lots of other confused looking graduation guests. After several texts and phone calls we finally found each other!






So that's one down and four to go for that first big milestone - high school graduation!
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