Fallout from a 17month old in a toddler bed

So Christmas day my son figured out how to climb out of his crib.  The day after, we transitioned his bed from crib to toddler bed and have been struggling ever since.  He has decided that sleeping through the night is for babies and that he can get up whenever he wants.  It now takes about an hour to put him to bed, him getting up, us putting him back, etc, etc.  And in addition to that, he wakes up for whatever reason, and then it takes that same amount of time to put him back to bed.  Two nights ago it was 1am and Mommy had only been asleep for about 2hrs and was not willing to exercise the patience needed to put him back to sleep.  Try as I might, 2 hrs later, 3am, I brought him to bed with me and Daddy and he went to sleep without so much as a protest. (Little stinker!)  Last night, he woke up about 11pm, just as Daddy and I were getting ready to turn off the TV and go to sleep, he went back to bed okay and didn't get up until just before 5am.  Sadly, I was not complaining, it was the first straight 6hrs of sleep I had gotten in a long while.  So I sat in his room with him and let him play for a while, after trying to get him to sleep with us in our bed, but to no avail, he was awake.  About a half hour or so later, just before Daddy's alarm was to go off we went into my room and said hi to Daddy, in came Sissy and everyone was up.  One thing I am super grateful for: DVR!!!  During the day I will record my kids favorite shows that are on at the oddest times because we miss them all the time and when they are up before 6am, like this morning, I put one on and they watch it a little and let Mommy and Daddy lay in bed for a few more precious moments before we actually have to get up and start the day.  It is fun to snuggle in bed with the kids and watch a cartoon.  I love being a Mommy! (the bad and the good times) ;)