little Mr. Wordsmith

He has always loved words. He used really long ones even when he could still barely talk. He asks about words and phrases all the time, what they mean and why.
He finds it funny when one word has two meanings. He made a joke just the other day when I asked him if he was going to eat the rest of his pancakes. 'No Mummy. I'm going to have a rest on my pancakes instead. I'm going to go to sleep on them!' It makes me laugh, and it amazes me the way he has worked this stuff out for himself.
For a while now he has been curious about sarcasm, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he tried it himself. I use it on him when I'm tired and cross, and he'll always pick up on it. He'll do something annoying and I'll mutter, "Thanks Toby, that's really nice of you" and then he'll ask, " Why did you say thanks? Why did you say that?" "I'm being sarcastic" is my only reply.
And now he's used it on me while we were decorating the gingerbread house just before Christmas. He was stirring the icing, I had to sieve the sugar. I was getting bored as it was taking sooo long, and ended up sieving the icing sugar all over Toby's hand. And he said, "Mummy, I really love it when you snow on my hand" in a serious, slightly annoyed tone. "Do you?" I said. "Not really, I was being sarcastic" he laughed. And I killed myself laughing too, amazed at him and how much he absorbs from all around him.