Molly Loves You and Other Amazing Words

Sunday night, Maggie had already gone to bed when Sadie's bedtime rolled around, but she hadn't quite fallen asleep yet.  She was wrapped up in a quilt when she looked at me and said "Molly loves you."

Molly is her favorite Bubble Guppy and "Molly loves you" is something she's begun saying that I've suspected for the past month or two is the equivalent to her saying "I love you."

"Mommy loves Molly!  Mommy loves Maggie!"  I said back as Sadie climbed into her bed.

Then Maggie paused, looked at me, and in a clear little voice said "I love you."  

It isn't the very first time she's said it, but it's one of the first time she's said it when she hasn't been echoing back the exact words that she's heard.  When she says "love you" when she goes to school she's basically saying "please go mom."  

There have been a few times, over the years, that she's echoed back, "I love you" after I've said it too. But this was the first time that she initiated saying it on her own instead of repeating it, which made it one of those super memorable moments that I want to store away in my memory exactly as it was.