nursing a bumble bee

the bean and i have been under the weather for the past few days. i don't know how the bean got sick in the first place but her nose started dripping badly on friday. so it was that all day long she kept asking, "i need a cloth mama! i need a cloth!" (to wipe her nose). i caught my cold from the bean, naturally, and wonder when it will be dh's turn to fall ill.

anyhow, despite her cold, she's been remarkably chirpy and this morning she played happily outside on her ride-on toys. then suddenly we (dh was still at home, prior to heading out to work) heard her call out loudly, "i found a bumble bee! i found a bumble bee! it's got wings!"

turns out it was indeed a bee, but it was very obviously dead, lying motionless on the brick-tiled yard. i told her so, but she doesn't yet understand what 'death' means and continued to talk to the bee as if it could understand her. i returned to the kitchen and from the window i could see her reaching out to the bee chatting to it. then, inspired, she cried, "i going to feed it!"

she toddled up to the garden and plucked a few strands of grass and presented them to the bee. perhaps a breeze made the tiny blades disappear because i next heard the bean call out, "the bumble bee ate the grass! it ate all the grass!"

this inspired her to get more, "bumble bee, i get you some more. then you will feel more better."

when the bee didn't ingest the latest grassy offering, the bean talked to it awhile before losing interest. soon after she got onto her trike and called to me, "mummy cat! can you help me?" when i went to her thinking that she needed help with the seat belt buckle, she knew her ruse worked, "mummy cat, can you push me?" i decided to humour her a bit and pushed her around the yard for a bit before making my excuses and got back to my chores.

much later, after finishing breakfast, she announced, "i found a dead bumble bee."