Wow guys, I haven't checked this thread in a while, and it's accumulated quite a lot of posts since then. They were quite fun to read, and it's nice to know about the different experiences people had.
Thinking about it, I wasn't really aware of my gender or how I was "supposed to act" as a girl until I hit puberty (12ish?).
When I grew armpit hair, I was quite happy with it, but I was made fun of in Primary school so I got rid of it. And with wearing bras, I never thought it was necessary and it never really occurred to me to do so until it was pointed out by this girl me and a friend met in a park.
I went through the make-up stage, but I felt very out of place, and I definitely couldn't relate to any of the other girls. I was quite the loner (Only really hung around with 1-3 people through Primary school and High school, and we never did anything girly together, it was always messing around)
Before the make-up stage I was alone, quite miserable (but I kept myself busy with school-work), I didn't feel like I belonged with the other girls. The make-up stage was still like this, though I probably got a little bit more acceptance from the other girls. I didn't really mind by tits until they got pretty big (C/D) but I was never "attached" to them (on an emotional level, I guess), and I certainly didn't want to make them look any bigger. I always really liked my upper-chest area because it was FLAT, and I thought my boobs just kind of spoiled it. Wanted to have a penis since starting periods? (I never really noticed my downstairs until then, when I kind of had to notice it) In the time that I was really reclusive (after coming out of school) I would always wear this black dressing gown (obviously with clothes underneath), and I would always cover up my cleavage without realising I was doing it. And the tops I used to have, that were kind of skimpy (I mainly wore pyjamas in that time period) I didn't like them at all, because they showed my boobs and everything.
When I would take baths on my own when I was little (about 7/8?) I would often put the bath suds/bubbles onto my face and use the cover off of a razor to "shave" it off.
I wore dresses to school until being like 5? My mum made me, and I think the school made it so girls had to wear dresses at that time though. I don't thnik I was ever bothered by that too much though. But since then I never wore any dresses (hated them) and I would wear more ambiguous clothing from the girl's section, and sometimes I'd wear my dad's jumpers when I was cold. I also remember asking my mum when I smaller if my voice was "boyish", since I thought it was deeper than other girls. Another thing I did when I was little, I think I was playing pretend with my dad in the garden, and I gave him a flower and he said something like "No, it's the boy who gives the girl the flower".

That is about all I can remember right now, and I apologise to anyone reading this, my typing got pretty repetitive (I am sleepy..)

Realized that I wanted to be male when I was about 15 and a friend asked me what I'd want to look like if I was a guy (aparently she'd had the conversation about it in Japanese class, I went to an all girls school). It got me thinking abit, I'd never been comfortable during puberty and I never wanted a huge chest. I only really looked into things late last year. I'm really shy so I'm only just starting to consider therapy cause I'm moving away from home next year. I'm 17 now and I'm hoping a therapist can bring me out of my shell a bit. :]

Farthest back I remember knowing I wasn't right when I was five years old. Told my mom I refused to every where a girls dress because it caused me severe dysphoria (didn't know that word back then though). I always wanted to play with the guys. Ran around with my shirt off whenever I could and was incredibly upset when I learned the difference between my lower half and bio guys. I knew since then but I found the word transgender a little over 4 years ago when ironically enough when my ex asked me if I wanted a sex change. Guess she knew I was trans before I even knew what the word meant. I've wanted to transition since then.

When I was in fourth grade my sister and I would play dress up and she would put on dresses and I would put on a suit and tie. It felt soooo good. I guess that's when I knew I was "different". But when I started to develop breasts that's when I really knew because I wasn't comfortable with the changes to my body. I guess I'm lucky that I never got a period.

Just this past year...at 18.

Sometimes that makes me doubt my transness.

Alex, don't let that bother you too much.  I'm 23 and just getting things figured out.  There are some people on this site who didn't know until waaay later in life. 

As long as I can remember, honestly. I remember being a kid and always wanting to be a knight or something dorky light that, and other kids picked up on it, too. My cousins and few friends used to come over and want to play house and they'd always tell me I was the dad, or the brother, or someone's boyfriend. Then I went into catholic school, and had to wear a dress for 4 years and honestly wanted to kill myself. But that's a huge, long, pathetic story unto itself. I went through this brief phase where I tried to be uber-feminine for...some stupid reason. Convincing myself, maybe. Probably just trying to conform, but whatever it was I hated it. Absolutely hated it. As highschool went on, I dropped more and more of it, stopped wearing dresses and clothes that made me feel like a freak, and shaved my hair into a mohawk. I started telling people I'd always felt male, always felt out of place, and to just treat me like one of the guys. About a year later, I started really thinking about it, realizing that I DO want to fix this, and that's about where I am now.

Damn, sorry for the TL;DR.

Long story short.. I knew pretty early on but didn't have the words to express it. There were always reasons that people gave me that  would "explain" why I am the way I am.. As a disorder.. You'd be surprised how many folks confided in me that they considered it when they were younger but how they grew out of it. Then I realized something important.. It's all BS.  I am who I am. Took me over 15 years. I'm a little slow I guess lol well in the mean while  I got married, had kids and yes I love my husband and don't regret being a mom even if that complicates things, so I figured well maybe I can be happy this way and the trans thing will go away.. So after a couple of  years of trying that I thought of myself as being in a nursing home, old, and female and I freaked. Really freaked, that "oh hell no" feeling. Then I knew, time to change. I have a very special husband though who is actually happy seeing me change. Before it's all set and done I will loose him to cancer, and I have no idea how I'm going to deal with that, but I'll do it being who I really am and go from there.
So that's me.

To Alx,

Thanks for sharing. Power to ya.