all by myself

sunny and i pray every night before he goes to bed. he has a really long and involved bedtime routine which includes (in brief) 20 minutes of carefully selected TV, a long bath with toys and splashing (but no bubbles, because bubbles stick to your hands and toys - yuck!), 30-40 minutes of books in the family room, brushing teeth, going to bed, more books in bed (read by daddy this time), some quiet snuggling, and finally, sleep. this is why bedtime starts at 7:15 and ends at 9:15. no wonder we're ready to go to bed by the time he falls asleep at 9:30!! but it all seems to work to keep him sane and happy and in routine, with very little struggle as we move from one stage to another.
but as i lie with him in his (not very) dark room, before giving him one last kiss and cuddle, i pray out loud to Jesus, thanking Him for sunny, for sunny's day (mentioning specifics where appropriate), praying for his sleep (i earnestly pray out loud every night that he would sleep peacefully through the night. it happens about 50% of the time at this point, which is a vast improvement over just a couple of months ago), and praying for his day tomorrow. i also thank Jesus for loving us and watching over us.
i try to keep the format simple and the same every night, and every so often i ask sunny if he wants to pray, too. he always says no. "you do it, mommy."
but two things have happened that are encouraging to me. the first is that now often when i snuggle with him, even if it's before nap or after a tantrum, he'll say, "mommy, you pray Jesus now." :)
the second is that this morning when i went in to get him up out of bed, he was sitting up but still very groggy. he said something excitedly (but sleepily, if that makes any sense) and i couldn't figure it out at all - something about "by himself." finally on the third or fourth time around i got it: "i pray to God by myself, mommy, all by myself!"
i wanted to ask him what he had prayed, but i held back. i figure that's between him and God. which is just how i want it to be. :)