pat pat pat

Monroe has started doing the cutest thing.

When she hugs us she adds a qick series of little pats to the back, kind of like the sympathy pats a little leauger might get from his coach after a strike out. I guess she picked up on patting as a gesture of affection after we'd patted her back to soothe and calm her. It is SOOOO sweet that she's started doing it back because unlike hugs and kisses which of course we've always actively campaigned for, this little gesture has never been something we've tried to get her to do. It's also never had any attention called to it (unlike the beloved Kisses which we've always labeled verbally.)

It made me think she must have a really sweet heart to have intuitively picked up the meaning of little love pats and spontaneously offered them to her loved ones.