I was right. A big part of the bedtime battles was his not wanting to go to school. Since school has been out, he has (for the most part) been able to fall asleep, in his bed, within 5-10 minutes of bedtime. Since camp started, bedtime has gotten a lot easier.
We did push his bedtime back a bit-mostly because he needs the room to be dark-but he is falling to sleep sooner. It's really the camp, though. He runs around and plays outside, in the heat and water, for 4 hours every day. Poor kid is exhausted when he comes home. The only downside has been that we tend to let him zone out more in the afternoon-stim on dvd's and the like.
Of course, we actually went puddle jumping together IN THE RAID the other day (and last night). Previously, Monster hated getting his feet wet. There were days we would have to carry him to the truck/school because he couldn't/wouldn't step on wet ground. He also doesn't like to get his hair wet (except when swimming) and hated going out in the rain. Two days ago, he was looking longingly out the door and I told him we could play outside in the rain and if wanted he could wear a hat (to protect his hair). He agreed to the hat (and wore one) and we went playing in the rain.
here are some pictures of him playing in the rain.
