It's a girl thing

We have all heard the opinions about nature vs. nurture when it comes to raising children, and at one point I felt like my life was a test case for gender stereotypes.  When Isabel was about 18 months old she tired of "mommying" the boys stuffed animals, she found the one doll in the house (one from my childhood) and began carrying it around.  I realized that even though she was surrounded by trains and trucks and balls, this little girl needed some different toys.  We didn't have "girl" toys, but once we got a few dolls, a stroller and a kitchen, she was ecstatic.
Now our lives are filled with princesses and pink.  Isabel refuses to wear pants and prefers to go out in either her pink rain boots or her red patent Mary Jane's (which she calls her "tapping shoes") at all times.  By nap time most days she changes into a leotard and tutu and she insists that she doesn't like any boys (which Andy is thrilled about!).  She will happily play by herself with her dollhouse, feeding and bathing her babies and doggies. 
I didn't realize how extreme her "girlie" persuasion was until our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.  Here are the Easter eggs that Izzy collected:

The only eggs in the bunch that are not pink are the ones with Dora on them.  I can guarantee that I do encourage colors other than pink in her life, even though I am more than happy to dress her in skirts and dresses.  I can also guarantee that she probably knocked over a few other little girls going for the Dora eggs, after all she has two big brothers. 

When the Easter Bunny came, Izzy did it again.

This time I know that her brothers were leaving the pink eggs for her or even finding pink eggs and giving them to her.  I'm not sure how long the pink and girlie phase of her life will last.  I don't have answers on the nature versus nurture, but I do know that my little girl has some very specific preferences about her toys and her clothes and she is not following in her brother's footsteps at all.