I shouldn't have skipped a day, because today was so dramatically better than Thursday it's going to seem a disjointed tale.
Today: No accidents. The only reason she wore two different pairs of panties today is because we had a little overflow while sitting on the toilet, and her pink kitty panties got wet. This caused brief hysteria, until I produced the Meow Meow Meow panties, which are almost as popular.
She even used the toilet without being asked once. Just turned in the middle of playing and said "I need to use the potty" as she trundled down the stairs to the bathroom.
This is a big deal; yesterday she didn't go even once without some form of coercion. Some times were easy - it was easy to tell her that everybody had to go before we went out, and have all of us take turns so she didn't feel singled out. Other times bribery was required. Once I bribed her with Raisinettes, and immediately felt like a bad Mommy - but then I discovered she liked changing panties, and when I wanted her to go I just pulled out a few new pairs and asked her which ones she wanted to change into. Telling her she needed to use the potty to get new panties worked like a charm.
Today even that wasn't necessary. We didn't push it as much - we pushed first thing in the morning, and about an hour after she got up, because she's always been pretty regular about those times - and otherwise just played the "everybody goes before we leave" game. I took her shopping and she stayed dry. We walked for an hour (she was in the stroller, which is a good workout for Daddy on the hills, but probably ought to end soon), and she stayed dry. She made it through the whole day and back into diapers (the diapers-at-nighttime thing seems to be working beautifully for now) without so much as a drop out of place.
I'm thinking now of going back to work on Monday instead of taking the vacation day, and sending her back to day care in undies. I asked her tonight if she wanted to wear her kitty panties to school on Monday, and she lit up like a Christmas tree.
Tomorrow will mock my optimism, I'm sure. Tomorrow will likely be a disaster. But today - today she did just beautifully, and I'm so proud of her.