New Bedtime Woe

Collin has been relatively good about going to bed lately and we've been kind of patting ourselves on the back since its been going so well. We've been trying to get him to bed early every night because we have to get up so early in the morning (before 6am) and he's always really tired, though bless his heart, he's usually pleasant. Tonight we started at 7:15 and he was having none of it. He bounced on the bed, he threw books all over the place, he screamed, he cried. We did our usual routine and told him we'd be back in a few minutes if he could be good and stay in bed. Then we heard "Look at me!" He was standing in his room stark naked. No diaper, no pj's. I've recently learned that, when he wants to, Collin can dress himself so I put his diaper back on, handed him his pj's and told him to get dressed. I was not coming back until he was dressed and in bed. I went back to check on him because he was beside himself because he couldn't find his socks and he was stark naked again. Why he cared so much about wearing socks when he didn't want to wear clothes is beyond me. Finally, at 8:15 he was ready to get dressed and go to bed. I think maybe we should just let him stay up a little later and avoid some of the hassle. If I'm not exhausted by the time I start putting him to bed, I sure am by the time he's fallen asleep!