Kyle Gets Cozy

*Our favorite furball, Kyle, turns 11 years old today! Happy Birthday, you handsome fella! xoxo*   


  One of the side effects of having a husband that regularly works overnight is being alone in bed at night.  Some evenings, I miss my Babe and can't wait until he's home.  I miss his warmness and being able to cuddle up to him. What I DON'T miss is Rich pushing his covers on top of me (he's always hot when he sleeps, I'm always cold - isn't that always the way?), him taking up most of the bed, and the snoring...Lordy, the snoring.  When Rich is working, I take full advantage of having our bed to myself by sleeping on an angle with the heat cranked up.  Having Luke sleep through the night in his crib is still a work in progress, so any night when Rich works and it's just me, and not me and Luke in bed, is a rare night.


     Last Thursday, we got slammed with snow.  Rich worked all night (lots of car accidents and downed power lines for FDNY to deal with in a major snowstorm) and Luke was asleep in his crib after a full, fun day.  I headed for my empty bed, assuming I would be the only one in it. Kyle, our dog, faithfully followed me upstairs and settled down on his bed in our room.  After about a minute of total and complete peace, Kyle got up and began pacing.  This would normally make me nervous, especially when Rich isn't home, but I knew what the problem was.  Kyle, in all of his pit bull glory...is afraid of wind.  Seriously.  The blowing of the wind freaks him out.  He panics, and I imagine that he thinks the wind is out to get him.  He will pace around our bed and then lay down on the hardwood floor next to Rich.   It would almost be comical if it wasn't so pathetic.


     So Thursday night was a tad windy.  As in, 50 mile-per-hour winds blowing the snow around.  Kyle was out of his mind with concern.  His problem was now my problem, since he was making me very aware of his fear with his non-stop pacing.  Kyle must have sensed my willingness to ignore him, because he then put his front paws up on the bed, very close to my head, and began to shake violently. Did I mention Kyle is 80 pounds?  Yep, 80 pounds of dog shivering in fear, inches from my head.  As much as I wanted to, I couldn't ignore that.  Pushing him off the bed did nothing as he would just prop his paws back up and shake again.  It was mucho dramatico, but I knew he was actually afraid, and I did what I had to do to get some sleep. I lifted his back paws up and hoisted my 80 lb.-pussycat-in-a-pitbull-body onto my bed.  Kyle used to sleep on our bed before Luke came along, but has rarely been on it in the past three years.  I think the combination of the thrill of being up on the bed again and the knowledge that he was next to his Mommy finally calmed him down, and the shivering and frantic panting eventually stopped...although the wind certainly didn't.  Kyle cozied up next to me and we finally fell asleep. 
    
     My spacious bed was suddenly filled with a big ol' hairy, frightened dog.  My chance to have the bed to myself was over, at least until Richie's next overnight.  But I didn't mind too much.  Kyle's snoring reminded me of Rich.  And Kyle IS my first baby.  So it was almost like having Rich and Luke in bed with me.  While I may look forward to my nights alone in bed, I'm happiest when we are all together.

                  
Me and Kyle on our bed, the weekend before I had Luke

                                    
          Rich, newborn Luke and Kyle-with-glowy-eyes

                                          

Best friends share the couch...

...and the yard

                                                        
                                xoxo, Momma Lioness Michele