The One with Potty Trained!

We've flirted with the idea of potty training for about a year. We even went as far as to buy Fox his own little plastic toilet when he was about 18 months old. He even "went" in it a couple of times here and there, but nothing consistent. He just wasn't ready, or maybe we weren't ready. I don't know.
Lately my friends with 2 year olds have been potty training their kids left and right. Fox is already almost 3!! But what do I do? How do I even start potty training? I've never had a kid before, Fox is my test child/guinea pig!
I read a few articles, found some ideas on Pinterest (cuz Pinterest has an answer to every problem) and then chucked it all out the window and decided to just try my own method: bribery (and cute underwear from Grandma!).
Someone was selling about 50 Disney toys CARS cars here in Grafenwoehr and I snatched those right up for cheap. On Monday September 9th when Fox woke up I said to him, "Fox, go potty in the toilet and you'll get a surprise!" Lo and behold, he went potty in the toilet, and he got a surprise!
You can bet he went potty about 20 times that day and the next several days, and yes, he got a new little toy car every time. He knew the drill and definitely took advantage of the system. We always made a big deal after the deed was done: "YAY FOX! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! (clap clap clap) YOU DID IT! WAY TO GO! WOOHOO!" Lots of time was spent in the bathroom those first few days!
Getting him to go #2 in the toilet took a bit of a bigger reward and a little more time. We were unsuccessful on day 1 of potty training, he went #2 in his underwear. But we kept saying "If you go poo poo in the toilet you get a BIG surprise!". On day 2 he didn't even go #2... On day 3 he told me he had to go poo poo in the toilet and he did! Just like that! Ever since then he's gone #2 in his toilet. He even dumps his own waste in the big toilet, flushes, then washes his hands. He still needs help wiping and putting his underwear and pants back on. All in good time right?
So it's been almost 3 weeks of potty training. We still have him wear pull-ups overnight because he usually pees overnight. Probably our fault because he has a waterbottle with him. If he doesn't have a waterbottle on his nightstand he will wake up and cry and cry for "mommy" until I get his waterbottle. That's a battle I'm just not ready to win yet. But his pull-up has been dry the last several nights, even with a waterbottle! Progress! Plus he's not peeing over his daily nap as long has he goes potty right before he lays down.
All-in-all, I'd say it's been a success! We've left the house to run errands and what not and he's just held it, no accidents so far, knock on wood. When we go out on our longer adventures we take him potty when we go potty. We always bring an extra pull-up and pair of pants just in case because accidents are bound to happen.
Fox sporting his big boy underwear:

We're so proud of you Fox! Way to go little dude!