Thank you so much for your comment. I really appreciated it ^^ I will check this stage with the cats. The checkpoint works saving the stage. When you die, the game returns you to the last stage with a checkpoint.
Ahh I see--I assumed when I died it just took me to the beginning of the stage I was on, but I think I missed that some stages have checkpoints already. Since that one was mid level I assumed I would have started there if I died.