Why doesn't he want to go to sleep?

Starting when Michael was about 3 months old, he would normally go to bed around 9:00and sleep until 7:00 in the morning. I would nurse him and then put him down in his crib and not a peep out of him. He slept through the night for quite a while.

Sometime around the time he turned 2, he started climbing out of the crib. Todd was sleeping in bed and one morning, he heard Michael say his name. When he opened his eyes, Michael was right there! We had to change his crib to the toddler bed and that's when the sleeping troubles began. Michael would routinely get up out of the bed 4 or 5 times a night and come in our room to try to sleep with us. We would take him back to his room most nights until about 5:00. After that, we were exhausted (this was worse than a newborn) and just let him sleep with us. Not a peep from him and we often had to wake him up.

Finally we needed to get some sleep so we bought a gate and put it up on his bedroom door. We met resistance for the first few nights and made several trips to his bedroom door but he finally realized there was nowhere to go and starting sleeping all night again, for the most part. This was a good thing as I had just found out I was pregnant with Katie and needed all the sleep I could get.

In December, we moved him into his new room and got him a big boy bed. We left the gate off for a few nights and he never got up. Apparently all he wanted was a regular bed like us. The boy is no dummy....he knew grown-up mattresses, pillows and comforters were more comfortable than his toddler bed!

Fast forward a few months and he started the stalling game. He tries to think of every possible tactic to keep from going to sleep at night. After he gets showered and dressed in his PJ's, we start the bedtime routine anywhere from 8:15 to 8:45. He gets to pick out a book to read, we tuck him in and leave the room. Or at least that's how it should go.....this is more like how it actually is. Michael gets out of the shower and runs around upstairs naked laughing hysterically. He finally calms down and comes into his room to put his PJs on after many times of us pretending to go downstairs. After getting dressed, there is normally one bathroom attempt that isn't needed but he knows we won't say no. We read the book (or not) depending on how much time has elapsed. Finally go to tuck him in, he wants to get out of bed and go downstairs.....or play with a toy. By the time he finally goes to sleep, an hour could easily pass by.

He runs all day and plays hard but fights sleep. I wish that I could trade places with him as I would gladly love to go to bed at 9:00. Surely there is some way to make him thinking going to bed is fun......