Well, looks like the canine side won this time.

Last night I decided to give the "Mario in bed" sleeping arrangement another try. This time, I put a long pillow up against me, and then put Mario on the other side of that pillow. (This is my side, this is your side.
It worked out pretty well. He could still see me over the pillow, so he wouldn't be walking around the bed looking for me. And he had a pillow right there to sleep against.

I woke up once at night- probably because I fell asleep with the TV on (..wait, I don't remember seeing the end of that movie.. ) and he was all curled up against the pillow on the other side of me. I turned the TV off and fell back to sleep.

And finally, this morning, I woke up and found him against me.. not on the pillow. How he got there without waking me up is anyone's guess, but it didn't seem to be so bad, since I didn't wake up. If things keep going like that, Mario gets to sleep in my bed.