~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life, as inspired by the women at Like Mother, Like Daughter~

{Pretty}

These two girls adore fruit of all kinds, and so they couldn’t be happier that summer is upon us. Cherries, apricots, pluots, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries – you name it, they’ll eat it. Abby can (and does, on a daily basis) consume an entire peach or nectarine (minus the skin) in one sitting, on her own.

As they enjoyed one of their first tastes of watermelon this year, I snapped a few shots. Pretty girls, pretty fruit.

{Happy}

I love being able to watch these girls grow and learn and change and develop new skills. While I can sometimes lose sight of the big picture in the routine of the day-to-day, every now and then I catch a glimpse of how much they’re absorbing, how quickly they’re growing.

This week, Abby graduated from an army crawl to the real thing on hands and knees, and she put her newfound skill to good use in knocking over every tower she could. Most times, she’d laugh a great belly laugh as the blocks came crashing down (though, of course, she declined to do so the time I was recording).

Also this week, after a pre-nap reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and the subsequent singing of the Alphabet Song, Katie sang it on her own. We haven’t worked on this at all together, and I had no idea she’d retained so much of it!

{Funny}

Euclid is in the habit of visiting our nearest neighbors on a regular basis. In fact, during a normal week, he spends the majority of his waking hours there, cavorting with their dog and other neighborhood dogs, relaxing in their living room, enjoying doggy treats, and generally living the good life. (Our neighbors are a wonderful retired couple who love animals and dote on all the local canines – another neighbor calls their home the “doggy day spa”).

Alas for poor Euclid, our neighbors were on vacation this past week, and he spent much of his time moping about our house, giving me these pathetic looks. Jonathan and I joke that he’s like a stereotypical teenager – “Why can’t I go to my friends’ house? It’s soooo boring here!”

{Real}

She looks sweet, cherubic, precious. And she is all of those things. When I have the opportunity, I love watching my girls sleep – the quiet peace of a sleeping child has no match.

It’s too bad, then, that this sweet girl has not experienced that quiet, peaceful sleep very much (and, as a consequence, neither have I) in this past week. The ten-month sleep regression is very real, my friends.

(But we’re surviving it. And she’s so bouncy and happy when I come to get her out of her crib in the morning that I almost don’t mind the rough nights. Almost.)

Those are the {pretty, happy, funny, real} moments around here this week. How about you? Share in the comments!