3-year-olds capable of deception?

I'm so angry right now.

Kai came in to the room at 1:30. I got up and escorted him back to his room. He started saying he wanted some warm milk, told him it was sleep time. Then he said he didn't want to sleep. Told him it was sleep time. I left. And then slowly the coughing began.

I'm pretty sure initially Kai fake-coughed to get me to go back to his room. The cough sounded forced, and it went from infrequent to frequent. When I finally got up to go to his room, he looked too happy and well when I handed him the water bottle. I told him I wasn't going to stay in the chair like he wanted me to, he got upset, started crying, and then his cough started to sound more real.

I got him to calm down, and I left. The coughing continued for a couple of minutes, then I heard him making his way to my mom's room (no coughing here). I got up and "caught" him in the act. Immediately, crying and coughing began. Got him back in his room, "I don't want to sleep", "I want you to sit on the chair", "I don't want you", "I want wai-puo to stay here" "I want to sleep in your bed" I told him how disappointed I was because he had been doing so well. I mentioned what they had been doing at lunchtime and told him everyone was proud of him. He coughed as I was saying all that. His coughs covered my voice. Then I said, "If you are really coughing, that's okay. But if you're faking it, then the next time you really cough, no one will believe you."

The coughing stopped almost instantly.... until he sensed I was gonna leave his room, that is.

"Mommy, I'm sick...." he whined.

"You're not sick, Kai." I pulled the cover up to his chin and started heading out the door.

He began crying immediately and the coughing started again.

" I don't want you to be here," he cried. So I went back to my room.

Silence. No crying. No coughing. For about 2 full minutes.

Then I heard his feet. He was coming to my room. To avoid waking up the baby, I greeted him at the door and he instantly started wailing. He knew I was gonna take him back to his room!!

Here I am. On the chair in his room, supervising/monitoring so he does not get out of bed again as he coughed his way to sleep.

The 3-year-old got his way. Again.

As I sit here furiously pounding the keys, that are really the screen, on the iPad (which is totally unsatisfying, by the way), I can't help wondering: What have I accomplished? Did I just reinforce his fake-coughing-to-get-mom scheme? Is he capable of scheming and plotting like this?