I'll be having nightmares about this.

I was playing the piano this morning and brought Lucy into our front room with me. It is hard for me to play with her because she grabs onto the piano bench and stands herself up, says “mama,” repeatedly (which breaks/melts the heart) and then usually falls down and starts crying, or hits her head on the bench. She has been completely accident prone these last few days. This is the routine, over and over again for the 5 to 10 minutes I can get in of playing time. This morning I was prepared to occupy her by bringing along with us a large wooden spoon and a wire whisk, her objects of preference of the household, and she seemed to be very content.

Out of the corner of my eye while I’m tickling the ivories I see her crawl out into the front entry way of our house, but I can still see her. With one eye on the sheet music and one eye on her (reptile style) I see her sit up and pick something up. I look over and see that she has something clinched in her fist. I say, “Lucy.” She looks at me and as I’m getting up to come see whatever she’s picked up to add to her bag lady collection, (she has a marvelous collection of lint balls and food crumbs), she shoves it in her mouth. I say, “Lucia!” with a little more firmness and get to her as she is taking it back out of her mouth and clinching it tight once again in a closed fist. Then the horror. As I am prying, I realize it is nothing less than a nasty DEAD WASP!! I can see the butt sticking out from her fist! I know I’m the parent and supposed to remain calm and collected but that wasn’t really the case. I immediately start freaking out, which makes her start crying, (not an all-out cry, more of a whine cry) as I’m prying the disdainful carcass from her white knuckle grip, and all the while I’m not sure if she’s crying because I’m freaking out or because the stinger found its way into her tender little skin! Bee and wasp stings can kill babies if they are allergic, just in case you didn’t know! I got that thing as far away from her as I could and swept her up into the bathroom to wash her hands (10 to 12 times). Luckily, turns out she was in fact crying from my reaction and not a sting. Phew! Every time I think about it I totally shudder. Gives me the biggest creeps. I keep replaying the whole ordeal in my mind, (post traumatic stress syndrome) and as it replays in my mind I can’t help but start screaming in panic, making her cry all over again. Hahaha Can you imagine? No, no I’ve been able to regain full composure but still!

For your viewing pleasure I was able to grab the camera and snap a few shots of the critter on my hand before chucking it out the door.

Haha. Okay, so maybe that isn't the actual wasp that we had our encounter with and maybe that's not my hand after all, but look at the size of that thing!! Good grief!! UGH they all give me the willies. And I don't care if you're dead or alive, you stay away from my baby!!