Alyssa is typically not a well-tempered baby, when she doesn’t get exactly what she wants…  But then again, what almost-2-year-old is, really?  A cute thing happened this past week that made us realize that she is heading back in the right direction, though.  She has some stacking rings (a common, plastic toy that babies like to play with) & for some reason, she likes to put 2 of them halfway on her feet & walk around on part of them, as though they are high-heeled shoes!  This is adorable enough, in itself, of course…  But, the other day, I needed to put her actual socks & shoes on her, while she was in the midst of playing this way, so that we could all go out somewhere.  When I picked her up, she got mad, as she typically does & started fussing at me & kicking her feet, even though I handed her the rings that were previously on them – she just *had* to let me know that this was *not* what she wanted, at the moment, ha-ha!  Anyway, while on her changing table, she began to calm down, when she realized that she could now put the rings on her arms, like bracelets.  Being the small-armed child she is, they naturally fell down to her elbows, though & she didn’t like that idea, especially when one seemed to get “caught”, where she couldn’t pull it off of her own arm – hence the need to fuss at her Mommy again, which she began doing.  At this point, although I was trying my best to get her socks & shoes on her feet quickly, to avoid any “toddler confrontation”, I decided to try an experiment: I smiled at her & gently, but sternly said, “Help?  Do you need help?  Say, ‘help, please’.”  To my amazement, she completely stopped mid-fit to beam up at me & actually ask, “Hep?”  I immediately helped her take the ring off of her arm & handed it back to her.  She grinned & proceeded to put it back on – now, it was a game that Mama would continue to play with her, at least for a few minutes, while finishing up tying her shoes.  Every few seconds, we went through the cycle of her getting one of the rings “stuck”, near the bend of her elbow & looking at me & saying, “hep?” or “hep, peas?”, then I would respond by helping & giving it back to her.  Who said learning can’t be fun!?