Bedtime excuses

By the time Sawyer was about 3 months old, he was on a pretty regular sleeping schedule. He woke up 2 times per night at 12 am and at 2 am. Each time he woke up, we changed his diaper, fed him a bottle, and he was right back out. Then he started sleeping through the night at about 6 months old.

He takes after me - he is a champion sleeper. I am the type of person who can take a 3 hour nap in the late afternoon and still sleep through the night. I can also marathon sleep through an entire day if given the opportunity.

Now, for the first time since infancy, Sawyer is resisting sleep. Of course, he sometimes puts up a fuss when it is time for B-E-D, but as long as he gets to read a book or hear a song, he gets over it quickly and snoozes off. For about the past 2 weeks Sawyer has gone to bed like normal and then 10-15-30 minutes later he is up and making excuses or requesting something (glass of water) to avoid going to bed.

He's a pretty funny guy, as kids go, and his requests are starting to surpass needing to pee and being thirsty. I think he's trying to come up with new material to see what he has to do in order to secure the elusive 'get-out-of-bed-free-card'.

Here is a short list of some of my favorite demands/excuses:

• He wants daddy to clip his nails
• There is a bug in his room
• He needs a 'chance'
• The TV hurts his ears
• His bottom itches
• He wants Jack (the dog) to sleep with him
• He doesn't want Jack (the dog) to be in his room
• His bed is wet - because he poured is cup of water on it (We gave him an 'A' for effort on that one)

He'll be 4 next month and we are wondering if this is something that goes with getting older. Do kids just get more manipulative and crafty as they age?