Surrounded by Love

Lizzy loves people, and she loves dogs even more. When she sees a dog, she does a goofy little dance, approaches the dog with absolutely no fear, and grabs his face. She does this with our dogs, with my brother's dog, with Madonna's dog, with Sheena's dog....pretty much every single dog she's ever met has experienced the face grab. So far, no pooch has minded. Amazingly, she's never been biten, or even snapped at.

Her love of dogs has now turned into a bedtime ritual. I'm on a big kick to get her to fall asleep in her own bed at night, and stay there all night. I figure this is the only way I'm going to remain sane during the upcoming construction season (trust me... despite all the snow, it is right around the corner! Before we know it, Brad will be working long days and I'll be on my own at bedtime). If I can get her to go to bed at 9:00 on her own, I'll still have an hour of "me-time" this summer. I'm dreaming big, but I think with Bob's help, my plan just might work. You see, Lizzy doe not like to be alone, especially not alone in her bed (something I hope she gets over before she leaves for college). So the easiest solution, is to let Bob sleep with her (Windsor is still way too hyper..he would destroy every toy in her room, her bed and probably Lizzy too by morning). When I first thought of this sleeping arrangement, I thought Bob would sleep on the floor beside her bed. Lizzy would have none of that. She calls him into her room, pats her hand on her bed and instructs Bob to 'mon (that's Lizzy-speak for "come on"). He obediently jumps onto her bed, and curls up the best he can. As you can see, she snuggles right up to him, and the two fall fast asleep. I don't think she even minds that on this night, she was snuggling up to his rear end.


But, while Lizzy loves her puppy, she really isn't that picky about who she sleeps with. These next photos prove that. We had people over on Friday night and Jake and Lizzy were totally wired. Everyone finally left at about 11:30 and while I cleaned up, they both sneaked into our bedroom. I went in to check on them a few minutes later, and both were fast asleep. Neither bothered to get under the covers, and Jake didn't even bother to get undressed. He also didn't seem to mind that Lizzy's feet were in his face. I think they would have slept like that all night.

Unfortunately for them, I also wanted to get some sleep, so I hauled them each to their separate beds. Sure enough, Lizzy didn't stay in her bed for long. You see, she was all alone in there... so she found her way to our bed. This time, she managed to get under the covers... but her feet were in my face for the entire night. While it would be easy to get angry with her for crowding me out of my own bed, I just can't get mad. She only wants to be close to those she loves, whether that's me, Jake or Bob. And I can't help thinking that before I know it, she's going to be all grown up and the snuggling will be over. So, I'll bite my tongue, and welcome her into our bed whenever she wants.