Leaps and Bounds

While da-da was away on his all boys/ all sports weekend get-away... Evie has seemingly hit new high marks in her development.
She said "shoes" (well, not only said it but comprehended it, too).
She also began stacking her rings (she's expressed no interest in them until just this weekend). She didn't really get the order at first but really began responded to my cheering on, "Blue! Green! Yellow!" before deciding to do whatever she wanted again. This kid isn't stupid but stubborn as hell. She tends to get frustrated and pissy if you try and show her things resulting in delayed learning. She won't do it until she can actually do it (whatever "it" may be). She isn't one to try, try again.
She really got into dumping out all her legos and blocks... throwing out the contents of the boxes is more like it. She'd giggle wildly and then try and pick up all the scattered pieces. One by one. She'd walk halfway across the room for a block, walk over to the box, drop, and walk all the way out to another piece. She did finally multi-task and grab 2 at a time but this pick-up & dump-out game was fascinating to watch. This kept her entertained for up to 45minutes at a time.
She really does know to stand at the fridge and yell, 'uh! uh! uh!" for when she wants you to get her her milk. She knows how to nicely pat Puck when he walks by and that he is a "dawg." She knows when the phone rings where it is located. She will hold the phone next to her ear and listen but still doesn't say anything. She will lean into you when you ask for a hug and is beginning to press her lips against you when you ask for a kiss.
This past week she has begun mimicking more behaviors... from her TV shows. On Yo Gabba Gabba! there's a section where a girl teaches a very simple dance, "arm up! arm up! bend your knees! now twirly-whirly (she spins in a circle)!" Rob called me at work to tell me that Evie raised her arms when told and then spun in a circle. Now I had also recently told her how to twirl in a circle so she must have caught on FAST! Its amazing when she does this - its like another light goes on in her head. Its fascinating to see her learn... and rewarding after her long bouts of frustration when you could tell she's been trying to learn new things internally.
Bad behaviors are running rampent now, too. She tries to stand up on her purple, plastic scooter. She crawls atop her little plastic activity table. She stands up on her chairs and tries to stand in her hanging high chair. NOTHING WORKS. We have tried everything from yelling, "no!" to wagging fingers to even a time out. She simply giggles. *sigh*. I'm scared for when this escalates to tantrums and meltdowns in a public place. How do you counter defiance at such a young age that doesn't "get it" and can't quite communicate yet?