Question: I just noticed a question that had two different numbered lists with different numbers but both were rendered as "1". Screen shot:

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1MsGQ.png)

Is this supposed to be happening?

Answer: 
Yes, it's supposed to be happening: – that's how Markdown [defines it](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#list):

> 
> It’s important to note that the actual numbers you use to mark the list have no effect on the HTML output Markdown produces.
> 
> 
> 

It's probably one of the more debated features of Markdown, but it's indeed thusly defined in the “spec” (scare quotes because the Markdown spec is more of a “description of behaviour” than an actual specification).
Yes, it's an unfortunate trait of markdown. You can get around it by indenting each entire list item by 4 spaces however.

1. This is a multi-paragraph list item.

It has lots of teeny paragraphs.

But there is a way around it...
2. It's not ideal, but it gets the job done!
3. Ta da!

(found this out from the [markdown reference on daringfireball](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#list))