And I discovered it today - on Wednesday, March 31rst ( that is 12 Days since I found him! :) ).

Yes, I didn't 'teach' him how to count - I just discovered that He Could Already Count Himself  ( I'm not sure if All the Troll Birds of his species are That Intelligent - or My Pet is Exceptionally Smart - but the truth is that He's Very Smart! - & he keeps surprising me All the Time! 😁👍 ).

This morning we woke up at the same time, both in good moods as usual - we told each other 'Good morning', had our morning hug & short morning Meditation - so our morning routine was going well... till the moment before breakfast when I decided to count how many Lovey's fave berries I can put on my hand at once. 

I started counting aloud 'One... Two... Three...' - & suddenly I dropped the three first berries I managed to put on my hand so far - so I said 'Oh... - Sorry!' - & looked down to find them because they fell under the table. Lovey said 'Oops! :) ... - They fell !' & got under the table to find the three berries I dropped.

I thought he would eat them instantly - but he Didn't! :) . He brought all dropped berries to me & put them on my hand again! - so he gave them back to me. And as he was giving them back to me, he did something else: He stamped his Feet a few times... - & after a moment I realized that He Was Counting! :D . 

He really was! :) - He put one berry on my hand & stamped his foot once, he put the 2nd berry on my hand & stamped his both feet one after another - & when he put the 3rd berry on my hand - his feet stamped 3 times! :)  ( 'left - right - left' - to be precise 😉 ). 

I opened my eyes wide in surprisement & asked him 'Did you just count those berries - or I'm still dreaming?' & Lovey nodded happily & answered 'Lovey... - count! :D '. I decided to make sure that it wasn't accidental & My New Pet really can count - so I showed him one berry & asked him 'How many berries can you see now? :) '. I expected him to stamp his foot once as soon as he saw one berry - but he did something even better this time!... - He sat down & raised his foot with his other toes curled & one toe up to show '1' ! :)

Right, that really Was Amazing! 👍

- I praised him instantly saying 'Very Good! :) ' & threw this berry to him to reward him. He cought the berry in the air & ate it, lowered his foot & smiled at me as if he was waiting for more questions so I showed him two berries & asked 'How many berries can you see now?'.

Lovey looked at me carefully & after a second he raised his foot again. With two straightened toes to show '2'. I praised him again & threw both berries to him one by one - to reward him for a good answer. He ate the two berries & chirped happily to encourage me to ask more questions so I showed him three berries & asked him 'And now? :) '. 

Lovey's foot went up again - showing all three straightened toes to express '3' - so he was right again. And got his reward. I threw all the 3 berries to him one by one - & he caught them in the air, ate them & licked his beak. 

It was going well - so I took 4 berries into my hand & asked Lovey 'Do you know how many berries I have in my hand now?' & Lovey nodded & raised his both feet. His left foot had all 3 toes straightened - & his right foot had two toes curled & I one straightened toe - so he used his two feet to express '4' :) .

I praised him saying 'Yes! :) - that's right! :) ' & let him eat those 4 berries from my hand. He ate them eagerly & waited for the next question so I showed him 5 berries & asked him 'How many berries he could see in my hand?' again. He raised his both feet again - the left one with all 3 straightened toes - & the right one with two toes straightened & one toe curled. 

He expressed '5' correctly - so I let him eat all 5 berries from my hand as another reward for a good answer & then I took 6 berries into my hand & we repeated the whole procedure: I asked him about the number of berries in my hand & he raised his both 3-toe feet for the third time - both of them with all straightened toes to express '6'.

All his answers were correct - so I let him eat those 6 berries from my hand as a reward for another good answer & of course I praised him saying that 'He is So Smart' & 'How much I'm Proud of Him!  ^_^ '.

We finished this 'first counting exercise' with number 6 - cause Lovey had just 6 toes - so I'm not sure if he would be able to show any bigger number - but maybe he will find a way someday :) We will see - he is So Smart that I think that he could find a way - but '6' was enough for a start - & btw it turned out that This was Exactly the number of berries I could put on my hand at once! 😉 . 

And all this morning's 'reward berries' he got were enough for his breakfast ( - he doesn't eat much - & if I put this number of berries into his bowl - it would be full ! :) ) so this time he finished his breakfast first, waited for me till I ate My Breakfast - & we went for our Morning walk, like everyday :)