Meet my little Claire Bear
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:38 am
Well, my darling, Claire arrived about three days ago. Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m late. But in my defense, I did say that I’d be back on the forums only after I could take my hands off her. If anything, I am a man of my word. The good news is, I’ve got a few good pictures to start off with! So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce everyone to my little Claire-Bear. Enjoy the pics, and the story of her journey home:
During the 7th day after receiving my shipping notice email, I was at work casually checking my personal email on my phone. Just waiting for that confirmation of delivery to my specified FedEx facility. I had been following the tracking news on my order quite diligently, so I knew exactly where she was. I knew it was going to be today. Finally, the email arrived, confirming that my box had been delivered where I wanted to pick it up from.
As some of you may remember from my previous topic (http://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=240&t=86124), I live in the house with other family members, and it was of the utmost importance, that I kept my doll a closely guarded secret. (To which I would have adopted the name of Operation: Silent Homecoming.) As luck would have it, the key fob battery for my 370Z had been on the fritz that week. Giving me the perfect excuse to take out my old Mazda 6 instead, which had vastly more cargo capacity in comparison to that sports car.
Once I arrived at the FedEx pickup location, I did my best to play dumb with the guy helping me. Told him I was here for a pick-up, and it should be a big one. Didn’t break character, even after the guy mentioned that the box had come, “All the way from China.” He must have been a little curious, but thankfully, he never out right asked, “What’s in the box?” Not sure if I’d be good enough of an actor to pull off a convincing enough reply.
Well, a big box was what I expected to get, and I was most certainly not disappointed. 83 pounds of non-disappointment. Yikes! Got it into the car without much issue, though I did have to put the rear passenger seats down in order to fit the box inside the trunk. After an uneventful car ride home, I parked in the driveway, and planned to wait until nightfall to retrieve the box, and get it inside via the downstairs side door. However, it would turn out that I once again had luck on my side. After arriving home, it didn’t take me long to discover that everyone else in the house was preoccupied with their own activities. Better still, no one on the side of the house where the windows look out to the driveway, downstairs, or the side yard. Seizing this opportunity, I quietly snuck out the side door, up to the drive way, and got the box out of the trunk and onto a dolly. Quickly & quietly, I muscled the box through the packed-with-junk spare room (where the side door enters), off the dolly, past the stairs, and into my room. With this task completed without detection, Operation: Silent Homecoming had proven to be completed successfully! My other family members at the house have no idea that I managed to get a large, 83 lbs. box into the house right under their noses. Thank gawd for dollies.
Was able to finagle the box into my closet, and waited until night time. After everyone else had gone to sleep, I closed my door (just in case), and retrieved the box from my closet. The box itself was in fair shape. A little beat up from the weeklong trip, but thankfully there was no damage to the internal contents.
Getting the box open, I was prepared to open the window and had a fan at the ready. I have heard from other forum members that new dolls can absolutely permeate the air with that new TPE smell. Imagine my surprise to discover that upon opening the box, no such intruding odor escaped. Lucky me again.
Well, now that the box was open, I very carefully started freeing my girl from all the protective packaging.
I made especially sure to inspect her hands/fingers and feet/toes, as if heard these can come with damage or loose/missing nails. I was yet again lucky enough to find no such problems.
Plus, it gave me the opportunity to take this shot of our first time touching each other:
Finally got to the point where there was nothing left in the box, but her. I carefully pulled her legs up, propped her forward, placed one arm under her knees, the other behind her back, and prepared to lift her free. Okay, wow. Just: WOW. My girl is a lot heavier than I had anticipated. Like many before me, and I’m sure many after, I had underestimated the weight of the doll. After a second, more prepared attempt, I managed to get her out and onto the bed. This will take a little getting used to. I can manage moving her around just fine, but still, she’s a lot heavier than I had anticipated.
Now that she was no longer contained inside her cardboard container. My next planned step was to give her a shower with me to get her cleaned up. However, due to the realization of how much she weighs, I must admit that now I am absolutely terrified to stand her up. Non-standing foot option, after all. Thus, I’m not so sure if I can have her standing in the shower with me. Even with three points of stabilization. So, no initial washing just yet. The last thing I want to take a risk on her first week home is to have her “ankle bones” punch through the sides of her feet.
So, I must ask: Is it safe to have her in the shower with me despite not having the standing foot option? Hopefully someone out there will let me know.
Moving on: Dressing her wasn’t as much of a fuss as I had thought it would be. Except for around the hips, where most of her weight is concentrated when in the sitting position. Makes for a lot of rocking her around in order to get her underwear on. I also discover two things worth noting at this point.
First, the fact that her left leg & knee joints are pretty darn stiff. Ultimately, I’m not all that worried about this, as I’ve heard the joints should begin to loosen up with time and use.
Second, the underwear had had ready for her is size small. Yet still, these are slightly too large for her. Especially around the hips, since her hourglass figure makes for very thin waist. Any ideas where to get even smaller sized undies? I’m guessing I need extra small women’s under garments. Not all that interested in little girl’s underwear, as most of it is Disney character themed, and shopping for them would just feel weird.
During the 7th day after receiving my shipping notice email, I was at work casually checking my personal email on my phone. Just waiting for that confirmation of delivery to my specified FedEx facility. I had been following the tracking news on my order quite diligently, so I knew exactly where she was. I knew it was going to be today. Finally, the email arrived, confirming that my box had been delivered where I wanted to pick it up from.
As some of you may remember from my previous topic (http://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=240&t=86124), I live in the house with other family members, and it was of the utmost importance, that I kept my doll a closely guarded secret. (To which I would have adopted the name of Operation: Silent Homecoming.) As luck would have it, the key fob battery for my 370Z had been on the fritz that week. Giving me the perfect excuse to take out my old Mazda 6 instead, which had vastly more cargo capacity in comparison to that sports car.
Once I arrived at the FedEx pickup location, I did my best to play dumb with the guy helping me. Told him I was here for a pick-up, and it should be a big one. Didn’t break character, even after the guy mentioned that the box had come, “All the way from China.” He must have been a little curious, but thankfully, he never out right asked, “What’s in the box?” Not sure if I’d be good enough of an actor to pull off a convincing enough reply.
Well, a big box was what I expected to get, and I was most certainly not disappointed. 83 pounds of non-disappointment. Yikes! Got it into the car without much issue, though I did have to put the rear passenger seats down in order to fit the box inside the trunk. After an uneventful car ride home, I parked in the driveway, and planned to wait until nightfall to retrieve the box, and get it inside via the downstairs side door. However, it would turn out that I once again had luck on my side. After arriving home, it didn’t take me long to discover that everyone else in the house was preoccupied with their own activities. Better still, no one on the side of the house where the windows look out to the driveway, downstairs, or the side yard. Seizing this opportunity, I quietly snuck out the side door, up to the drive way, and got the box out of the trunk and onto a dolly. Quickly & quietly, I muscled the box through the packed-with-junk spare room (where the side door enters), off the dolly, past the stairs, and into my room. With this task completed without detection, Operation: Silent Homecoming had proven to be completed successfully! My other family members at the house have no idea that I managed to get a large, 83 lbs. box into the house right under their noses. Thank gawd for dollies.
Was able to finagle the box into my closet, and waited until night time. After everyone else had gone to sleep, I closed my door (just in case), and retrieved the box from my closet. The box itself was in fair shape. A little beat up from the weeklong trip, but thankfully there was no damage to the internal contents.
Getting the box open, I was prepared to open the window and had a fan at the ready. I have heard from other forum members that new dolls can absolutely permeate the air with that new TPE smell. Imagine my surprise to discover that upon opening the box, no such intruding odor escaped. Lucky me again.
Well, now that the box was open, I very carefully started freeing my girl from all the protective packaging.
I made especially sure to inspect her hands/fingers and feet/toes, as if heard these can come with damage or loose/missing nails. I was yet again lucky enough to find no such problems.
Plus, it gave me the opportunity to take this shot of our first time touching each other:
Finally got to the point where there was nothing left in the box, but her. I carefully pulled her legs up, propped her forward, placed one arm under her knees, the other behind her back, and prepared to lift her free. Okay, wow. Just: WOW. My girl is a lot heavier than I had anticipated. Like many before me, and I’m sure many after, I had underestimated the weight of the doll. After a second, more prepared attempt, I managed to get her out and onto the bed. This will take a little getting used to. I can manage moving her around just fine, but still, she’s a lot heavier than I had anticipated.
Now that she was no longer contained inside her cardboard container. My next planned step was to give her a shower with me to get her cleaned up. However, due to the realization of how much she weighs, I must admit that now I am absolutely terrified to stand her up. Non-standing foot option, after all. Thus, I’m not so sure if I can have her standing in the shower with me. Even with three points of stabilization. So, no initial washing just yet. The last thing I want to take a risk on her first week home is to have her “ankle bones” punch through the sides of her feet.
So, I must ask: Is it safe to have her in the shower with me despite not having the standing foot option? Hopefully someone out there will let me know.
Moving on: Dressing her wasn’t as much of a fuss as I had thought it would be. Except for around the hips, where most of her weight is concentrated when in the sitting position. Makes for a lot of rocking her around in order to get her underwear on. I also discover two things worth noting at this point.
First, the fact that her left leg & knee joints are pretty darn stiff. Ultimately, I’m not all that worried about this, as I’ve heard the joints should begin to loosen up with time and use.
Second, the underwear had had ready for her is size small. Yet still, these are slightly too large for her. Especially around the hips, since her hourglass figure makes for very thin waist. Any ideas where to get even smaller sized undies? I’m guessing I need extra small women’s under garments. Not all that interested in little girl’s underwear, as most of it is Disney character themed, and shopping for them would just feel weird.