I know that genetics are set from the moment the embryo starts to emerge and grow, but parents usually don't see beyond the color of their baby's eyes and hair for the first several months. When my daughter Audrey turned two it was if she was touched on the head by Tinkerbell in the middle of the night and turned into a fairy princess. Now mind you, she did not live in a world of rainbows and unicorns, no she was growing up with an older brother fascinated by dinosaurs, pirates and dragons and a twin brother who loved Thomas the Tank Engine and monkeys, there was barely a doll or anything girly in the house, yet somehow she gravitated toward anything "princess". So we indulged, and rode the slippery slope to Disney "Princessland" and now, well let's just say I have my final proof that she is in fact a princess and yes, it was hardwired from birth.

I was showering the other day and Audrey came into the bathroom singing as if she was a princess from a Disney movie (it actually made me think of that scene from the movie Enchanted where the birds bring the towel to the princess as she steps from the shower). As I laughingly asked her if she had slept well, she continued singing her answers. Now mind you, she not only did she have on her Cinderella night gown, but she had adorned it with a Cinderella costume, a tiara and some other baubles. Which mind you, she puts this on upon waking almost every day and I have to enter into significant negotiations to have the princess garb removed for meals, outings and bike rides.

Audrey hosts tea parties and has her older brother accompany her to "the royal ball". She wears her "glass slippers" and dances "ballet". She loves shoes and jewelry and comments on "how lovely" someone looks. She cannot wait until her baby sister Sophia can join her to play "princess", and I am sure it will be as soon as Sophia can stand on her own. At ten months Sophia already gravitates toward anything with sparkles, beads, taffeta or pink. You see, she too is hardwired with the same "princess" genes. I am sure as soon as she can talk and sing I will be getting the Disney princess serenade in stereo. "Priceless" doesn't even begin to describe this.