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This is the phrase we've been hearing around here lately. There are other variations - "Peese, Dada" and "Peese, Gamma" among the most popular. We've been reinforcing manners since Nicholas started talking. And now that it seems he doesn't STOP talking, he's learned the word's power. But what he doesn't get is that there are limits. Take TiVo. This is the wondrous invention that allows you to rewind live TV. He will see something he likes and ask to see it again. Yesterday, we were outside and we saw some birds fly by. "Again?" he said. "Sorry, Buddy, they're gone," my husband told him. "Peeeese, Dada!"

He does the same thing with cars. Another new hobby for Nicholas is sitting in the front seat, playing with all the knobs and dials (with said car safely turned off, of course). We'll be out for a walk and he'll stop by a car and ask to get in. "No, Nicko, that's not our car." "But I said peese!"

It can be trying, dealing with a little kid who thinks that saying "please" is the ticket to getting anything he wants. But at the same time, I treasure this brief interlude when he still thinks we can do anything - stop time, break into the neighbor's car - if he just says that one little word.