potty training 101

I've known the inevitable task of potty training was ahead of us and I had to just pick a method and a time to get down to business. I thought it would be easier to start sooner than later for him to 'get it' before baby #2 comes. I chose a '3-day' method that I found on-line:

www.3daypottytraining.com

DAY #1- He woke up at 5:30 a.m. which is so unusual for him- but I decided to still go with the plan, even though it meant I had a cranky, tired boy on my hands. We started off with a 'scavenger hunt' to find all the diapers to throw them away. He thought this was fun. But, when I whipped out the new big boy underwear, (which I thought he would love...) he kept saying, "no Elmo unders... no Elmo unders..." Uh oh. Change of subject. Day one meant I was by his side every minute and rushed him to the bathroom with any signs of a trickle. This was exhausting because he has no problem playing independently usually and I had to keep coming up with new activities. On this day, he trickled so many times in his underwear, I can't even count. My potty training coach had said to have 30 pairs of underwear on hand. I thought that was ridiculous, especially once I went to buy them and realized they weren't cheap. Come to find out, I should have followed her instruction, and ended up repeating loads of Elmo undies in the wash. I was so ready for his nap! And it didn't help that Chris was saying, "Are you sure he is ready for this?" I couldn't quit now! It is a 3-DAY plan; not a 1-DAY! He woke up from his nap and by this time of day, he would say "oh, no!" as soon as he started to trickle- so it gave me hope that he was noticing and possibly (?) getting it?

DAY #2- Another long day. On this day, he would dance around or run to the bathroom when he had to go, but he would cry once we were in the bathroom. Part of the problem is that he didn't want to sit on the potty. I felt like I was 'forcing' him, which is a big NO-NO to the positive reinforcement method I chose. He was holding his pee longer so less underwear changes all together, but the crying... During nap time this day, I re-read my instruction book and was encouraged again that things might not click until day #3. A suggestion for the potty aversion was to let him stand or put him on the big potty.
DAY #3- I am so glad we are finally here! Today has been a good day mostly! He has had no accidents in his underwear (for pee... #2 a completely different story...) He runs to the bathroom when he has to go and he seems to be doing better sitting on the big potty. It's funny because he makes it to the potty, but mid-stream starts saying, "all done. all done." So, I wonder if he just feels the relief of going but hasn't figured out when he's REALLY done yet. He is happy to choose his M&M color after he is done. Tomorrow, Yaya has him all day while I work and I am confident that she will keep up the praise and he will be proud to show her what a big boy he is!