the cat mat

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered an old cat mat in the back of our closet. I was about to throw it out, but on a whim I decided to try and clean it up to see if my boys would like it. And do they ever! Elliot barely ever moves for lying on his cat mat. I had to loosen his collar the other day for the growing-ness of him. Jack, usually mobile, is there mostly, too. Even Adelaide is constantly trying to scramble up on the desk to sit in it.

The past many nights, I haven't been sleeping well - I keep waking up all in the night and just feeling a little off. I kept trying different things such as going to bed a bit earlier and washing up our bedsheets all sweet and lovely with method baby rice milk and mallow laundry stuff. 

But I still couldn't quite figure out what was bugging my sleep, until the other night. Frustrated with again waking up, I stumbled in the dark down the hall to my studio where I discovered the cat mat and my two blissfully sleeping boys, all curled up cozily together and snoring away.

I have finally realised what my sleep has been missing - Elliot! Almost every single night since I brought him home from the SPCA years ago now, he has slept dutifully and wonderfully beside me by my feet. He's a big guy, the type who won't move for anything, and I've gotten so used to the weight of him that now sleep just isn't right without him.

Now I've been trying everything to get him back in my bed, carrying him back and fourth several times each evening. But he just keeps on going back to that darn cat mat. It is kind of old and ratty, so I'm hesitant to just put it in bed along with us. The only thing I haven't done is hide it away again - it feels kind of mean and a little bit like blackmail!