5 out of 6 kittehs prefer...

...my bed. At night. With me in it.

Only Miss Bitty is absent from the bed. She, of course, prefers high wire sleeping these days. It's possible she was there at some point. The far bottom corner of the bed is her usual spot and it was unoccupied.

What makes this pic special is the proximity of Miss Lilo to Peggy Sue. :-) This is part of a breakthrough for her that's been developing over the last couple of weeks. So, when I woke last night, hemmed in by kittehs, I very slowly and carefully contorted myself out of bed to try to capture the historic moment - thank heaven for the slats on the headboard to use as grab bars. I used the cell... if I went for the camera, I knew the moment would be over.

And, yes, I escaped through the 2' of space at the top of the bed. I was sandwiched in the channel between Annie, Peggy Sue and Lilo. (Yeah, they managed to nudge me partially out from under my extra blanket.) As the joke goes, sorry guys, king size is the largest bed they sell. We all know it wouldn't make any difference if there was a larger size, though, our furkids would still plaster right up against us! :-)

More amazing, I slowly and carefully contorted myself back into bed and everyone stayed put. Why do we do this? What is the psychology of not wanting to disturb the kittehs? Is it deeply buried desire for a body as flexible as theirs and we see this as an opportunity to practice?

Anyway, back to the breakthrough... up until a few of days ago, Lilo insisted on claiming an entire side of me at night. Sometimes Win would move in to the bottom on that side during the night, but we never started out that way. Then, one day, Winnie plunked herself on the same side right at the beginning of bedtime, although a foot or so away, and ignored the hisses that followed. Surprisingly, Lilo did not get up and leave or move in and run the usurper off. The next day Peggy Sue followed suit in boldness, again at a distance, but on the same side, and got no adverse reaction. Last night, 6" away. Yay!

(Sorry all these pics are cell, but that's the way it's been lately... camera way out of grabbing range.)

I'm very proud of our little grey diva. Lilo has clearly turned a corner and warmed up, not only the residents, but to me, too. Oh, she's been a lap sitter and bed sleeper since day one, but she never burrowed in so trustingly before. You can just feel the difference.

And she's sharing space much more freely now. Here's a pic of Lilo sharing the chair with Winnie. I tried to get one of Peggy Sue and her sharing my lap but, I have to shoot blind and my aim was way off that day... got only the tips of ears.

The construction is coming along. I'm soooo excited. I know it'll be a couple of months, but watching the demo systematically proceed, and the utilities go in, has been great. Gary says the pocket doors will go up first (yes, the French doors will be moving... more on that later) so you'll be able to see some progress. In the meantime, you can see that the living room is in constant disarray. Oh, well, it's worth it!