Bedtime

I got a few cute pictures of Elias tonight just before he went to bed.  He's been successfully moving his bedtime later and later.  Instead of 7-7:15pm, I'm now lucky to start getting him down by 8, and all too often it's been closer to 9 when he actually gets tucked in.  I'm trying harder now for 7:30-8.  I know sleep is very important for him, and having a few hours to do household chores or just veg after he's asleep is important for me.  He'd always been so incredibly easy to put down at night:  quick, no crying, hardly any fuss.  Now he endlessly stalls with everything he's got--"Mommy read book?"; "I drink water?"; "Poopy diaper?"; turning on music and madly dancing to it; getting deeply involved in Thomas the Train; crying; tantrums; going limp; volunteering to clean up or fix something; and when all else fails, making a run for it.  That's Stage One.  Then Stage Two:  milk and songs in the dark in my room.  He tries to escape and cries there, too, which is new (although still managing to stop enough to request favorite songs).  When he senses the end of Stage Two approaching he tries to request yet more songs or ask for another bottle of milk.  At last, Stage Three:  into his bed, covered up, kissed goodnight, and quickly left with the door barely ajar.  He generally stays put then...for a few minutes.  Then often he'll come quietly creeping out, always right to me to show me he's not in bed.  Usually it'll be "Hello, Mommy.  Hello.  Goodnight, Mommy", waving, smiling, even laughing.  Occasionally he'll be even quieter and request food, drink, a toy, another diaper change, or to sleep in my bed instead.  A la "Super Nanny," he gets marched right back in to bed, and although the number of times per night has dropped, about 50% of the time he still makes at least one attempt to get up again.  The most consistent thing seems to be that I myself am eager for bed after this drawn-out production.