Remember last week when I showed you this photo of everyone being so  unhappy with their bodies that Ivy jumped off the bench and tried to run away? Now you can replace that view with this one taken yesterday.

I made new bodies with my pattern for these two and you can see that Candy sits and holds her arms perfectly and little Ivy (so I have named her) also can sit and show off her arms. The tiny doll in yellow on the floor in the first photo has been returned to parts department. This is the second time I have tried to make a 10 inch Claire and I simply cannot force myself to make her into a baby. She is too small and is 'just' a dolly toy to me - not worth making a proper body for her because she is too doll-like and not cuddly. I have found that is my decision point. If a baby fails the cuddle quiz it goes back into the box of parts. I delight in picking up a new baby and giving them a cuddle to see if they can pass my test. This is one test I love to give. I check how the body fits in my arm. where the limbs go during a squeeze, how the weight of the baby feels, how it is distributed against my body, how it feels to put the baby's head against my cheek, how the eyes focus when I talk to it. I even check how the doll responds to my singing a lullaby! The worst response was when a doll threw her head on the floor!
I was so happy to have these two new babies, I took their portraits and even that job went good. I was going to show you the best of those pictures but I cannot see them good enough on the computer. I have been printing out contact sheets and that works the best. I ran out of ink so both you and I are waiting on the Amazon order.
I did unpack the three boxes of dolls from Bambi. What a trip that was! She had wrapped each little doll and even parts of dolls in bubble wrap. I was very touched by the care she had taken and given to each doll. I was able to set them on the shelves (thank goodness I had gotten rid of so many books!).

Oops, I see I did not include the very top shelf in the photo! My bad. So there are dolls there for you to see in the official photo I will take with the other camera.

This is the other half of the shelves. On the bottom shelf  (in parts) is the life-sized composition baby I bought in an antique store in Hamburg. My first reborn?!? I remember that snowy December night so clearly as I sat in Dr. Antonavitches (an OBGyn) office with a real-looking (for those times - the 70s) baby in my arms and then seeing the stares from passengers on the U-bahn later on the way home with Bambi's Christmas present so proudly held in my arms. I do want to photograph the inside of her head before I put a new wig on her to record how the original doll-maker fixed her eyes in place with red wax - very interesting. Today I learn B. still has two more boxes to send so I have lots to look forward to! Happiness!