Almost 3 yo will not sit on the potty. Should I put on the brakes? Or rip off the bandaid?

My son will be 3 at the end of May. I am having trouble knowing if I should lean in: take a 3-day weekend and say all right, bye-bye diapers, here's a special racecar potty and a sticker chart and infinite juice, we're going to be naked for 3 days and learn how to do it. Or if I should put on the brakes: stop talking about it for a couple months and then try again after he's 3.

Here is what's been going on:

Since August 2025 we have been inconsistently asking him to practice sitting on his little potty, reading books about big boys using the potty, watching potty episodes of Daniel Tiger etc., talking about how his friends said bye bye to diapers. Also since August 2025 he has changed daycares (unexpectedly); we have had a close family member go through cancer treatment and die; I was pregnant and his baby brother was born in January. So it's never felt like the right time to do an intense 3-day potty thing.

In the last month or so we ramped up the potty propaganda and he has been willing to sit on the potty for an M&M at bedtime and in the morning. When he has occasionally peed while sitting he gets a second M&M and his face LIGHTS up when he realizes he has peed in the potty! I thought we were making progress.

But the last two weeks we have gone backwards: refuses to sit both at home and at school, saying no quiero, I don't want to. He also resists diaper changes. Last weekend he pooped in the bathtub and seemed shocked and surprised. We talk about potty all the time. He is very verbal and can tell me that some of his friends wear diapers and some wear underwear and use the potty. He's also very clear that he does not want to sit on the potty. He has absolutely 100% never been willing to sit on the big potty with the special stepstool.

Pre-K 3 starts in September and we're very excited for him to go because it is free in our city and it would be wonderful to not be paying for double daycare. But he does need to be potty trained by then. I am spiraling a little bit.

Help me wise reddit friends!