Growing up....

Gracie at about 2 1/2 years old...living with T1D for over a year of her life at that point.  She's grown up sooooo much since then.  Seriously!!!  She's almost a real teenager!



Gracie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at only 14 months old.  She's spent her entire life living with this disease, as well as living with her parents managing it all.  She is on the threshold of becoming a teenager and I see her taking interest and ownership of her T1D in her own reserved way.

She's never really known others with T1D... I mean, yes, she knows others with it, but there's not been anyone "like her" in her daily life (church, dance, riding, neighbors, friend's events, etc).  I'm not gonna lie; Sarah's diagnosis with T1D a couple months ago was bittersweet for Gracie.  She doesn't want her sister to go thru all she has over her lifetime, yet at the same time it's kinda nice to not be the only one.  Plus it allows her to be a mentor to Sarah in all this.  At any rate, I'm watching Gracie take consistent steps to taking over her own T1D care, and it's been a treat to see.

We've always taken things a step at a time, in our family.  Gracie started doing her own finger pokes at 3 years old.  She's been a carb counting master since she was 8 years old.  She has begun, slowly, to do her own site changes.  Baby steps, but heading toward the prize nonetheless.  She loves watching certain vloggers on YouTube, and I've discovered that the ones she faithfully follows are those living with T1D.  She gleans tips and new ways of doing things from watching others... and she is understanding WHY we do things a certain way.  Things like, why we don't leave her diabetes bag in the truck (insulin can't get too warm or chance freezing, and she always carries insulin in her bag), leaving glucose tablets in the truck during the warmer months causes them to loose their effectiveness, why we wipe off the initial drop of blood during a finger poke, etc.  I am so thankful that she is growing up in a day when her world is far wider than our own yard.  It's because of things like YouTube, Podcasts, Google, iPhones, Laptops, etc that kids like Gracie are able to learn and connect with a community that can help them grow up healthy.  Yes, there are horrible and dangerous things that can come across our screens... but there are amazing things as well.  It's for those reasons that I'm so very thankful!

And, as a side benefit... Gracie utilities the skills we learn thru our lessons in very "real life" ways.  Think about it: She's honing her research skills, spelling skills, and reading skills without even thinking about it.  When she's figuring out her carbs to cover with insulin, she's using her math (she'd use more math if her pump didn't automatically figure out her insulin dose;).  I could continue, but you get the picture;)  Yet again, homeschooling RULES in real life!