joke

Elias has been telling his favorite joke lately.  He actually came up with it many months ago but it's recently found new life.  Here it is:

Thomas and Toby brought HOT as a present!   (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)

Get it?

Elias quotes his books nearly continuously (it makes up a good portion of everyday conversation).  When he first encountered the sentence "Thomas and Toby brought coal as a present" (which makes sense if you know that these guys are steam trains), he misunderstood "coal" as "cold" and was confused.  When I explained it was COAL not "cold," he immediately insisted it was "cold," which doesn't make sense, and is therefore hilarious.  Now, extending the wordplay, he often replaces "cold" with "hot" which is even more obscure, and even more funny.  Apparently punsterism strikes early.