Funnier by the day

The more Cooper speaks, and the bigger his vocabulary becomes, the more entertained I am by his antics.

We were jumping off the side of the deck while holding hands (a favorite activity, it is only about 18" up and we land in the grass) and I was counting to three, i.e. 1, 2, 3, JUMP! Then, Cooper decided it was "my hurn! my hurn!" and started counting for us. Using his own methods...

"1, 2, 3, DUMP!" (jumps) "Yaaaaaay!!! Boo fall down!"
"3, 4, 8, DUMP!" (jumps) "Yaaaaaay!!! Boo dumping! den!!" (den = "again")
over and over and over again.

He is very consistent that proper Cooper counting is either 1 2 3 4 8 or rarely 1 2 3 4 7 8. We tell him that 5 comes next all the time, to no avail. No mention of 6.

So, after a while, I got a little tired of jumping off the deck. So I suggested he try to do it himself like a big boy. He looked excited at the idea.

This is what happened next.

"1, 2, 3, 4... 8... DUMP!" (bends knees. gets nervous. stands up and looks at me.) "No. Too high. No mama. No Boo hurt. Too high. Need mama hand. HAAAAAND!!" (I give him my hand) "Yaaay! Boo dump! Dump!" (jumps flawlessly to the ground) "YAaaaaaay!!!!"

This is why I'm not too worried about the kid's safety. At a mere 18" off the ground, he refuses to jump off the deck without holding my hand because he's concerned he might get hurt. Almost shocking, really. It does confirm my notion that the two foot tall stack of bricks in the backyard may not be entirely safe, but given the quirks of my rather careful child, is also not a major liability.