Under-floor heating

R and I went to Cardiff today, where the Boy Wonder seemed happy to see us after a fortnight's gap. We noticed another step change in his vocabulary and grammar, and one or two behavioural changes (not all of them charming) that can probably be ascribed to him being at big nursery, with children up to two years older than him. We had a few disagreements, mainly when the Boy got stuck on the word "no" and I forgot the basic rules of deflection and distraction, but overall it was a lovely day.

My favourite little exchange with him happened at lunchtime:
B (removing his apron and starting to stand up): "Finissed."
J: "Woah - hold on a minute. Are you sure? Do you want any more of your pie?"
B: "NO WAY!"
J: "That's fine. Would you like a banana?"
B: "YES WAY!"

Of course, R and I both laughed heartily, which probably guaranteed the reappearance of "NO WAY!" and "YES WAY!" later in the afternoon.

While the Boy was taking a nap in his push chair, pushed by R around the sunny but bitterly cold park, I went looking for insects, and found this Bombus terrestris queen crawling around among some crushed crocuses. She wasn't even trying to fly, which seemed like a bad sign, but was quite happy to climb up onto my glove when I offered her my hand. After warming up for a few minutes she became a little more active, at which point I popped her into a freshly opened crocus bloom, and watched her burrow down into its depths to get the nectar. Several minutes later she turned laboriously and emerged, but still couldn't fly, so I offered my hand again and then transferred her to another flower. The next time she emerged she did try to fly, but couldn't lift herself more than a centimetre or so off the ground, so I moved her into another fresh flower, and again watched her burrow face-down into its depths. Shortly after this R and B turned up, and when I took the Boy to see the bee she was still in the flower, and appeared to be fast asleep. I wouldn't wager much on her chances of surviving the night, but at least I feel as though I improved them a little.