Molly and Addi

I may be an emotional baby these days, but looking at these pictures could honestly make me cry.  I have always loved Molly, and was happy she was our dog, but I did not appreciate her nearly as much as I do now.  We've been so lucky with Molly since she was a puppy, as she has always been a super sweet, wonderful dog.  But watching her love Addilyn, or more like watching her let Addilyn love her, has made me appreciate her even more.  

It was a rough transition for Molly when Addilyn was born.  She went from having lots of attention (especially from Chris) to getting quite a lot less those first few months.  Addilyn didn't know she existed and I felt like she got in the way, when so much of my attention and energy was going towards Addilyn.  Molly spent a lot of time eating diapers and I spent a lot of time being annoyed.  It took a few months to get into a routine and attempting to do a better job loving on Molly too.  

(Molly sympathizes with my squinty eye problem when smiling for the camera.)

I think around five months Addilyn started really noticing and loving Molly.  Since then (and still to this day) every nap and every morning when I go get Addilyn, Molly follows me into the room and Addilyn looks over my shoulder and starts flailing her arms and smiles so big for Molly.  The rare occasion where she doesn't follow me in there, Addilyn looks all around until we go get her.  

 

If Addilyn is fussy or crabby, I can call Molly over and she almost always stops crying and gets so excited to see Molly.  Now that she's crawling everywhere, she always goes up to Molly and lays her head on her stomach and it is the sweetest thing ever.   She recently learned to go get Molly's ball or toy and pick them up, crawl over and put them in Molly's mouth.  And she's quickly learned it's more fun to feed Molly than herself when sitting in her highchair.  I figure it's Molly's reward for putting up with Addilyn being all over her. 

Molly will often lay outside Addilyn's room when she's napping or before we go to bed, when Addi is already sleeping.  It makes me so happy that she's grown to love her and I know wants to protect her.

We sure do love our Molly and hope we have her around for a long time!