Just when you think they aren't listening...

Sundays have been a struggle this last year, what with church starting at 2:00. My children are usually extremely cranky the 4 hours before they go to bed, and that falls into church time. We have tried our best to entertain our children through Sacrament meeting without any incidents or too much crying, and have done a decent job. I count our Sacrament meetings as successful if our children are relatively quiet and distracted.
So, I assumed that when my children, especially Joshua, are quiet and busy, they aren't paying attention.
On Sunday, as we were enjoying the bit of peace and quiet on our bench, we were able to turn our attention to the speaker (how novel!). She started off her talk refering to people she used to know, and their lives, and at one point she said, "Between the time she was 4-years-old to 15-years-old..." at that juncture, Joshua abruptly turned around to face the speaker, and in a loud, clear voice said "I AM FOUR YEARS OLD!" It's amazing what they pick up.
Sometimes, when Jeremy and I are talking while the kids are playing, Joshua will be next to us, playing, and repeat any word that he finds interesting, and make commentary on what we just said.
Jeremy conducted an experiment after this incident, to see if Joshua has some sort of filter on what he hears. Joshua was sitting, watching a movie. Jeremy started off by talking really loud, and it didn't phase Joshua. Then, in a very quiet whisper, Jeremy said "candy" and Joshua turned and looked to see what Jeremy was doing. Just to make sure, Jeremy did it a couple more times, using different words. The words that got Josh's attention every time were "candy" "cookie" and other enticing treat words. Ahh...Just when you think they ignore everything you say...