Also, just to add to some of the other ladies' suggestions...he is really young still! At not even 2, sometimes kids just do weird things that we, as adults, don't understand. My daughter is just over 2 and a really good talker and often spontaniuosly says she's sorry...but sometimes when she has done something and we ask her to say sorry, she does exactly what you described...puts her head down and eyes up ina defiant manner and refuses..she is testing. She gets a time-out and then comes back when she is ready to say sorry. It could be that he's testing you. When he comes and stands there and stares, maybe it's because he can't figure out what to do...some kids also have limited experience with playing independently as their parents always play with them or put them in structured activities. Maybe if you gently guide him to an activity and show him what to do, he will go with it.