Pitter-patter of little feet

Bedtime with Ellie has become a nightmare of late. Apparently, this is a common tale at this age. In a fit of madness, I typed in "defiant 3 year old" in google, and bedtime problems was the first thing to come back. Kids seem to use this as another area of control (the first one being food). I can't make her sleep, and she knows it! So these days, the bedtime routine is as it always was, except she keeps coming out of her room over and over and over again for up to 1.5 hours, and it makes us nuts! Not to mention the fact that she's getting less and less sleep this way. Nothing we do seems to make a dent, and it gets really old fighting her every night. She seems to thrive on it, but we find it a really unpleasant way to end the evening. It's extra hard because she's very smart and highly verbal, so we often make the mistake of expecting her to act older than she is. She is only 3, and it helps to try to remember that when trying not to rip one's hair out.
And then there are nights like last night, when all goes so well and peacefully. The bliss is tangible. No shouts. No debates. No repeat visits as we tidy the kitchen.
Except...


Forgive the exposure, but I had to take it quick and without flash so she wouldn't know we'd spotted her.
We had to hand it to her: excellent stealth and bonus marks for cute cheekiness. It made us giggle (behind our hands so she wouldn't see). She's only 3, and what a little cutie she can be.