Charlie Brown Syndrome

"Hey Josh," pause "Josh" nothing "Joshua" still nothing "JOSHUA!"

Then he casually glances up like "is someone saying something?"

All kids go through the selective listening phase right?  That I understand.  The "I know Mom is trying to get my attention but I really don't want to respond" ignoring me.  Okay, I know how to deal with that, kind of.

But this is a new 'not listening' phase.  It is like he really doesn't hear me.  And the worst is when he is looking at my face while I am talking, he doesn't even understand what I am saying.

"Josh, hey, can you go get your shoes on?"
"What?"
"Go get your shoes on."
"What?"
"YOUR-SHOES-GO-PUT-THEM-ON-YOUR-FEET"
"I don't understand anything you are saying."

Or just today, no joke, this is exactly what happened:

Logan found a car Josh was looking for all morning, so he hands it to Josh.  Josh just takes it and keeps playing.
Me: "Josh....Josh...Joshua...HEY JOSH!"
Josh looks up, finally.
Me: "Hey, Logan just gave you your car, tell him thank you."
He looks confused.
Me: "Logan, you know him?  Tell him THANK YOU"
Josh: "Okay..."
Then he walks right past Logan and back towards the bedrooms.  I am thinking what on earth?  So I follow him and he is trying to pull Andrew out of his crib.
Me: "Josh, what are you doing?"
Josh: "Isn't this what you said to do?"
So my question is, how does "tell Logan thank you" and "go wake up the baby and take him out of his crib" sound ANYTHING alike?

All the older boys are playing by each other.  Josh's dinosaurs are talking REALLY loud.  So Caleb keeps telling Josh "be quieter, I can't think!" but Josh is totally not listening.
Me: "JOSH!  Please be quieter, you are being really loud."
Josh: "Why!!! I don't need to go to the bathroom."
Me: "I didn't say anything about going to the bathroom, I said to be quiet."
Josh mutters: "I don't understand anything she is saying."

So, I have come to the conclusion that I am the adult in Charlie Brown's life.  All Josh hears is "WA-WA-WA"  Is this normal?  Cuz, I am not sure how much more I can take.  Maybe I need to try the whisper approach, or act like I don't understand him.  There has got to be a better way than this Charlie Brown lifestyle, although it is pretty funny after the moments are over, especially picturing everything that comes out of my mouth as deep, wordless noise.