HUGE STEP!!!

Ellee tends to go in spurts of independence.  The last few days has been one of those times. When I get ready to do her shot, she wants to put the needle on and dial up the units.  No big deal, the needle is protected until we remove two caps and she has me check to make sure she put it on the right number since there are half unit markings.  This morning, however, it was different!

We were running ahead of time for the bus and I got her pen out to give her a breakfast shot while she was getting her shoes one.  Since she has been wanting to prep the pen the last few days I asked if she wanted to do it.  "YES!" and quick dart over to me at the computer desk was her response! While I was filling out her log and running the numbers through my head to double check my calculations came the obvious question: "How many?"  "Let's do 4 units."

I checked the pen to make sure she had it on 4 and not 4 1/2 and she tells me "I want to do it MYSELF!" Since she had already dialed the pen in, I had to ask if that meant what I thought it meant.  "You want to give yourself the shot?"  "YES" she said in her goofy, over-excited voice that she does when she is very excited about something! 

I was flabergasted for a few seconds.  So many thoughts ran through my head but one was louder than the rest: She will have to do it herself eventually! 

I told her that she had to do it in her leg, so she picked a leg and found a fatty area.  Next I showed her how to hold the pen so that she could push the end of it to inject the insulin.  Once she held it in her hand correctly and I could see she had good thumb range, it dawned on me that the way it "ratchets" may throw her off. I told her to take both caps off with the other hand and we did an "air shot".  She laughed to see the insulin stream out and was anxious to do the shot!

Ellee amazes me.  She takes things in stride that would freak most people out!  I am constantly thankful for her personality because that is one thing that makes dealing with T1D easier that it should be!  After she did her injection, she had this look on her face of accomplishment!  She was *so* proud of herself and had a beaming smile!  She even counted to 20 because I tried to take a picture but forgot that I had a different lens on and it wouldn't focus. 

I was hesitant to post the original image, but decided on this cropped version of it.  I think it signifies so much... those little hands have seen and held so much in almost 6 years that I have held them in my own hands.