Potty Training Boot Camp

As of last week Lexie had no desire to use the potty. If I was smart, I should have began the potty training process back in January when she was very interested. She would go every night before bath time and even pooped in the potty then. She was only 21 months. I guess I didn't want to push her.
On Monday (August 29) I put Lexie into potty training boot camp as myself being the drill sergeant. Since she is about to start preschool on Wednesday (sept 7), I just thought it might be a good time to do this. Plus, I always heard that once kids are 2 1/2 and older, it's harder to train them since they are stuck in their ways. Lexie isn't quite 2 1/2, so we went ahead and jumped on the potty training wagon. I covered all the furniture with towels. I had the potty seats & stools ready to go in two bathrooms along with a jar of "teeing on the pott" treats. Not to mention, I was mentally prepared for a long week of training. And thanks to my dear sweet friend, Scarlotte for her awesome suggestions! I truly appreciate it!
DAY ONE: When I went in Lexie's room to get her, I told her that I had a surprise for her. I made a HUGE deal about big girl panties that had princesses on them. I even put them in a princess bag that she could carry around. I told her that only babies wear diapers and big girls wear panties. Lexie was thrilled to pick out her choice of panties (I had bought nearly 30 pair just to be prepared). We have Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Minnie & Daisy panties. Lexie started off the morning in heaven as well as cold turkey with no diapers.
Once we put on her big girl panties, we went downstairs to throw away all the "baby" diapers (my friends had told me to have her throw away the diapers to make sure she understood what was going on. And I also didn't actually throw away the diapers, I plan to donate them).
I let her down as much box drinks as she wanted (this was recommended in order for constant urination). Once she had an accident, I would pick her up and run her to the potty. After A LOT of accidents within a short amount of time I was getting extremely frustrated but never let Lexie see that. But at 12:25 PM, she peed on the potty! I felt very encouraged. I kept praising her and telling how proud of her I was. She got to pick out her choice of a treat. After a while she started to grasp the concept.
When it came around to bedtime, I refused to put a pull up on just because I thought that that would be two steps back. She went to sleep with big girl panties on.
DAY 2 (Tuesday):
Lexie woke up dry! That is huge! I was so impressed!! She told me she had to go potty when she got out of bed. We only had two accidents that day. One at 9:24 AM and one at 5:29 PM. She went to bed with big girl panties on again.
DAY 3 (Wednesday):
Again, Lexie woke up dry for the second time. I was so so proud of my sweet pea. She didn't have a single accident the entire day. To make things even better, she pooped on the potty! So many of my friends have said that getting kids to poop on the potty is quite difficult. Since Lexie did that, I gave her a double dose of skittles. . . . :)
DAY 4 (Thursday):
I sent Lexie to MMO with only big girl panties on. No diapers nor pull ups were packed in her bag (just a few extra pair of panties). The teachers were so pleased. She didn't have an accident. We then went to Meet & Greet (same church) to meet Lexie's preschool teachers. She did great! She loved her classroom, teachers, and friends. And still no accidents!
DAY 5 (Friday):
Still no accidents! We ran errands all morning long and came home to pee on the potty.
DAY 6 (Saturday):
Dave's parents came into town to spend Labor Day with us. I think there was so much distraction with Lexie running around and playing with her G'Pops & G'ma that she wet herself twice. Though I thought she was still doing great and even pooped on the potty! However I broke the cardinal rule and put a pull up on Lexie for bedtime due to all the excitement of the grandparents being in town.
DAY 7 (Sunday):
Again, only two accidents but pooped on the potty!

We are on the road of being nearly potty trained. The hardest part is over. I couldn't be more proud of Lexie. The first 3 days of boot camp were tiring but so well worth it. Who knew that it would be so exhausting for me.
My biggest advice is positive reinforcement. Yes, there will be a lot of accidents which is to be expected. Don't reprimand, scold, or say "no, bad." Believe me, it was so hard especially when Lexie was peeing all over the place on Monday. I still encouraged her and told her to please let Mommy know when she needed to go to the potty. I was constantly saying that since her attention span is so short. But we are getting it!!!

Lexie's bag of big girl panties

The throne. . . .
If Lexie pees or poops on the potty, these are her choice of treats.

Day 1: These new panties are fun!

Day 2: Enjoying "craft time" with big girl panties on.

Day 3: Look at that cute diaper-less tush!

Day 3 - dancing with SuSu, Mickey, and Minnie

Going night night with no diapers on!!