Was he testing the waters?

My boyfriend (only been dating a month) and I were writing cute messages to each other on a dry erase board. I wrote “I appreciate you ❤️” then when it was his turn, he wrote “I ❤️ you”. I don’t know if he was testing the waters to see my reaction or if he was just making a little joke. I didn’t know how to respond so I just giggled and looked down..