Day 4: Stranger

It's strange, it's daunting, it's a little bit scary..it's the POTTY CHAIR!!  And after 3 days of toddler/parent hell..it was a big fat FAIL. 
I thought after day one and a few tinkles it was going to just continue to get better and better, but Lauren seemed to regress on Day 2 & 3. 
We thought Lauren was ready, we thought we were ready.  Clearly neither parties were fully aware of what was in store. 
We expected accidents and  we had a few but after day one and a few accidents, Lauren decided that she didn't like the feeling of an accident in her big girl underwear and instead of going on the potty she would hold it.  I'm not talking just for a little bit, I'm talking, ALL. DAY. LONG.  Poop & Pee, she held it in.  She had to go so bad and she would be grabbing at herself and running to the potty and sit on it for about 10 seconds and probably when it was about time to go, she'd clinch up and jump off until her next trip about 2-5 minutes later.  Several times throughout the day she'd beg and cry for a diaper and we just kept bribing and putting her on the potty.  Occasionally she'd get excited and say she peed and when we'd check it out, there was about a quarter size little teeny tiny puddle of pee.  We'd still reward her and get excited but it still didn't change things.  Day 3 we started and we tried again, but she seemed to be regressing and begged for a diaper even more.  After jumping out of the bath tub 3 times to go to the potty and no luck and her whining to no end, we walked into her room and before I turned around with her diaper, she was already laying on the floor with her legs up in the air and saying "Diaper!"  I put it on and in less than 2 minutes she had filled it with a days worth of poop and pee.  Oh dear. 
We knew at that point we were putting away the potty for a few more months, most likely until after our move in June. 
She just doesn't quite react to rewards so that doesn't work, bribes don't work, and quite frankly, she may shows 98% of the signs of being ready to potty train but the other 2% she's not and that 2% is a big deal.  She needs to be really 100% ready and so do we.  I'm praying that this failed attempt doesn't make her regress even more.  I think that is why we are going to wait until closer to 3 yrs old, until maybe she gets a better understanding of what's going on. 
I sometimes forget that she is a baby.  She had to grow up so fast because of Kaelin coming along.  She is a baby but my baby talks in full sentences and knows her full alphabet and can count to 20 and loves to draw circles and has a wild imagination and is such a big sister that I completely forget that she is still so young. 
If anything, I'm learning what to do and NOT to do when it comes time to potty train Kaelin.  Afterall, parenthood is a learning experience..right?  Why does it feel like a race & competition?  By far this is the most challenging stage we have had to deal with.  I'm sure we'll look back on it some day and laugh but right now...holy freaking cow!  Phew!