Paci Fairy - nite 1

Well, we've been prepping Anderson for months that the Paci fairy would come on the nite of his 3rd birthday. While he's been soooo excited about the Paci fairy coming to take his pacis and leave him a present, I knew he didn't REALLY understand that the pacis would really be GONE forever!! So while he's been excited, I've been dreading this day and the sleep compromise it would cause! So last nite while Anderson was out playing, the Paci fairy (also known as Mommy) stole away the last 2 pacis and replaced them with a special present. My brother & his wife had sent Anderson a UGA football jersey for his bday - we knew that Anderson would LOVE it, so we used that as the paci fairy present. When we went upstairs to start reading books last nite Anderson was slightly confused at the package left on his bed, but once he realized what it was, he started getting so excited with disbelief. His innocent bewilderment almost made me cry, but I held back. He opened the present and loves loves loves his new shirt -in fact- I told him he could sleep in it, knowing the likely struggle to come sans paci! Obviously the paci provided a level of security that chased away all fears from the darkness, noises, etc because as soon as we left his room he started whimpering about noises he was hearing. After a few trips back to his room, I finally laid down with him until he was asleep and left his room with baited breath. To our relief, Anderson slept thru the nite without another whimper though today our day started a little earlier than we would have liked (6:20am). I have to say, nite 1 went much better than expected. I'll have another report later with nap 1 without the paci along with nites 2, etc! For those friends who will see him in the coming weeks, your encouragement to him would be greatly appreciated!!! Here's a snapshot of him in his Paci fairy present - isn't it cool!!