Cuddles

I am very lucky for a number of reasons. I have always enjoyed cuddling since I can remember. I had a number of stuffed animals growing up and into my adulthood that I used for sleep security. When I got my first dog, even the first night she spent with me, we snuggled. She has since been a constant companion – sitting with me on the couch when I read, providing a paw when I was not feeling well, squishing beside me when I am having trouble sleeping.

My second dog was not a cuddling companion for a while. She was abused before we rescued her so she was quite skittish when trying to pet her. After a few months though, she too gained an extreme cuddliness quotient. She often woke and wakes me up to get a good cuddle in for the long day ahead. She loves getting petted and is often on my other side (opposite dog #1) when reading. 

It seems that I now have another addition to the cuddlefest – my daughter. The last few weekends, when she’s woken up earlier than I’d like, after having her bottle, she sneaks into the crook of my neck and begins to talk. She then gives me a hug. It was really the sweetest thing I could think of - until the sweetest thing in the whole world happened this weekend. 

Again she woke up earlier than necessary. She had grogginess all over her face. I fed her a bottle and then we had breakfast. I returned to the bedroom to change her and in doing so she snuck away from me on the bed. I ended up crawling over to get her. She rubbed her eyes and cuddled up to me. She tried to grab my eyelashes and then she giggled. From there, she proceeded to fall asleep on my arm with her face against my chest. 

I didn’t want to move her because I was afraid of waking her up. Instead I watched her fall deeper into sleep. I then fell asleep too. I woke up about 30 minutes later to the sound of the telephone ringing but she at least continued to sleep. She moved positions but still remained on my hand. My arm did go numb a couple of times but I tried to squeeze my hand to bring circulation back. 

After that my hip began to hurt from the position I was in. I couldn’t really move without waking her so I didn’t. I took a look around to see what time it was and who do I see around me but both my dogs napping around us as well. I guess they climbed onto the bed when I was asleep. 

When my daughter finally woke up, she looked right into my face and giggled again. She gave a big stretch releasing my arm and then proceeded to start crawling around as if the nap didn’t happen at all. It was probably the best hour and a half or so I’ve ever napped in my life. I was surrounded by my favorite warm cuddly parade. Everyone should be blessed with cuddle-loving critters and humans in their lives.