So last weekend, the paci fairy came to our house. Hudson had been showing signs of giving-them-up-readiness, so the paci fairy stepped in, took all of Hudson's paci's, and left some fun toys in their place. Although he was thrilled to wake up to all of his new toys, by mid-day, he was ready to have his paci's back. When I reiterated that they were gone, he and Jon Owen formulated a plan to get them back -- they decided to lure the paci fairy back to our house with a fake paci fairy ("because paci fairies like to hang out with other paci fairies, Mommy"), then startle her by swatting at her, causing her to drop Hudson's paci's so that Jon Owen could retrieve them.
The funny part was listening to them devise their plan -- what would work, what wouldn't. Who would do what and when. I loved it. But as the day went on and Hudson became more and more adamant that his paci's be returned, the plan took an evil turn and he decided that he was going to hit and kick and pinch the paci fairy! In the face! Thankfully, Jon Owen's calmer sense prevailed and they ultimately decided just to douse her with water. Funny.
Sinister paci fairy plan aside, the life free of pacifiers hasn't been bad. He still asks for them occasionally, but is getting by without them. The only problem has come at night, when Hudson wakes up and gets scared (which he's always done) -- before, he would find his paci and get himself back to sleep, or sometimes, come downstairs and get into bed with us. Now, he very loudly wakes up, often screaming, and almost always runs downstairs to our bedroom like his hair is on fire. As you can imagine, Jay and I wake up completely alarmed, and have a hard time going back to sleep. Hudson is fine, but Mommy and Daddy are TIRED.
So last night, Hudson said he wanted to sleep in Jon Owen's room. And because we are desperate to try anything that would ensure a reasonable night's sleep, we reasoned that perhaps being with Jon Owen may help him feel less frightened in middle of the night. So we pulled out Jon Owen's trundle and set Hudson up. Surprisingly, miraculously, we didn't hear a peep out of Hudson all night long. Could this be the answer? Too soon to tell, but the boys have been asking to share a room for some time....and maybe I'm ready to let them.
So, paci's are gone. Perhaps Hudson and Jon Owen are getting a new bedroom. And as if that wasn't enough, Hudson announced that big boys don't wear diapers and he didn't want to wear them anymore. Now clearly, this is welcome news. I have been trying to get him interested in potty training for many months. But on the heels of the other big changes in his life, I didn't really want to undertake this right now....but he expressed readiness, so off we go.
A fellow Parish Mom, Kimberly Rich, told me that she had great success potty training her kids by a) filling them full of liquids -- whatever they love; b) putting them on the potty every 15 minutes, without fail; and c) rewarding them with sweet treats and toys for dry underpants and successful potty tries. So, essentially bribery -- but hey, whatever works! So here is a picture of all the fun underpants and treats, at the ready:
I am pleased to report that since we started this morning, he has remained dry and has gone in the potty 2 times! So far, so good! So here is my sweet boy in his Lightning McQueen underpants....showing us what a big boy he is becoming!!!
I'm proud of you, Hudson Gray!!!
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