While You Were Sleeping

Since losing Petal I had been sleeping with just a cat on the bed. That is til one night about a week ago Raimi got skeeeeered by a cat walking along the window sill and he came and lay down at my feet on the bed. I was half asleep so didn’t stop him and we settled in with him sleeping soundly against my legs for the night.

It doesn’t take a Professor Trelawney to figure out where this goes. Now I have a determined Raimi stubbornly planting himself on the bed every night. Halo of course sees Raimi on the bed, comes to politely ask and settles on as well.

But not every night. Some nights it’s only Raimi on the bed, some nights it’s both, and some nights Raimi starts on the bed and then halfway through the night goes back to his own bed. I think those are the ‘hot’ nights where he gets too warm and goes to the cool floor.

I find it comforting to have a dog on the bed again – even if he is 6 times Petal’s size and weight. Ceilidh consistently sleeps on the bed but she’s not really a cuddler and she is usually only on the bed for part of the night. I think there has only been a brief amount of time in my life where there was not a dog curled against my legs at night.

There are drawbacks to having a 107 pound dog sleeping on the bed with you. Space is now at a premium because Raimi does not know how big he is. He is also hard to move. He also likes to sleep touching me. And touching doesn’t mean he politely finds the crook behind my legs and lays in it to conform to the sleep position I have chosen – touching means ON.

On means crushing my legs. If I’m on my back he lies on my knees which causes them to hyperflex backward. If I’m on my side he lies on my knees which causes them to grind into each other. If I’m on my front he lies on my knees which means he’s cutting off the circulation to my lower legs. Anyway you look at it my knees are taking a beating.

I can usually pull my legs out from under him and if I’m lucky slide them around his bulk and drop off to sleep. Sometimes he’s draped himself sideways across the bed and effectively reduced my sleeping area by half – this is where I employ the fetal position and fortunately it’s one of my preferred sleep modes.

Occassionally he will lie next to me with his head near my shoulder area – this works okay until he realizes my head is very near his and he wants to poke and stretch in glee. He loves it when I look at him and I have to be very careful not to open my eyes or acknowledge him in any way. Otherwise we end up with a foot in my eye and him beating a hasty retreat to his own bed.

Halo is the least trouble as she finds her spot, curls into a tight little inoffensive ball and doesn’t move til morning. Raimi is a fidgeter. This way, that way, up, down, turn around, stomp, stomp, stomp. I’m adjusting to this nightly routine although part of me says I should lay down the law or I’ll end up sleeping on the dog beds but the other part secretly enjoys their desire to spend some snuggle time with me.