Imaginary... friend?

Cooper sort of has an imaginary friend, except that instead he has an imaginary truck. His blue truck. Don't remind him it is pretend- he'll get really mad at you.

Cooper tells all sorts of funny and cute everyday narratives about his blue truck, each of which has its own set of ever-changing details. On a typical day, Cooper might tell us he's going to drive it to school with his lunch box that has fruit in it. And then later he'll inform us that he is going to drive the blue truck to daycare with Grant in his car seat and with the special daycare bags. Or he might pronounce, apropos of nothing, that he's taking his blue truck to the store to buy more brown ice cream and new pears.

I like to think of his blue truck as his sidekick, like a little person that is actually a truck. Almost like a pet. He very much treats his blue truck in the way that a good imaginary friend might be treated- it is the main actor in things that Cooper wants to do but can't quite figure out how to do all by himself.

"When I'm a big boy I'm gonna go to school in my blue truck to see my friends and write letters on paper and play on the slide."

Or my favorite, an exchange that happens in this pattern (although the details always change) nearly every day...

Cooper: I want a cookie for lunch.
Me: We don't have any cookies right now, buddy.
Cooper: Don't worry!! I will drive my blue truck to the store and buy some for you!