We'll Just Call That a "Primer" Day

I've been planning for (& dreading) potty training the kids for quite some time now, & we decided that last Friday would be our day to start. I wanted to give them as many home days as possible to get it before having to try it at school. We already had four little potties, & I bought training pants & big kid underwear for each of them, as well as Sesame Street books & DVD's about using the potty & a bag full of cheap prizes to be given out for successes.

They excitedly said bye-bye to their diapers Friday morning & donned training pants after sitting for about 20 minutes on their potties without any action. We proceeded with breakfast, followed by more potty time. Mallory actually went #2 in the potty, which I think surprised her as much as it did me. She seemed scared to death by the ordeal but was quite proud of the purple tennis ball she selected from the potty prize bag.

Throughout the day, we camped out watching Elmo's Potty Time...
read books in the bathroom to keep them on the potties...
& spent a lot of time outdoors.
Unfortunately, the one thing we didn't do was celebrate any more successful pottying! Between the two of them, I think we went through about 15 pair of underwear or training pants that day. They got really upset every time they had an accident, so I think they really wanted to stay dry, but there was just a disconnect between the mental aspect & the physical ability to do so. They sure did look cute running around in Mickey Mouse underwear, though!
All that to say, I think their little bodies just aren't ready to hold it or go at will. We're using the experience as a "primer" to refer back to & talk about with them until we get ready to try again. I'm not sure when that will be, but it probably won't be too long. I would love to get them trained before Beau arrives, but we'll see if that's actually possible. In the mean time, we're going to start making potty time a regular part of our schedule when they wake up & after meals, just to get in the habit of going. Hopefully we'll get lucky & have some success during those times!

I'm currently reading Stress Free Potty Training, as recommended by our pediatrician & would love any insight on the topic that you may have.