Kyle, an American Boy

Since I last posted Dunklin County hit a grim milestone, as eighteen people have coronavirus and two have died.  No one that I know has gotten sick or died and I'm thankful for that, but everyone in Malden is taking steps to ensure that it stays that way.  Governor Parson says that May 3rd should be the last day of this "stay at home" order, but I don't see how we can possibly make that.  May 3rd...a rather memorable day if you're a tornado buff.  I've never seen a town as snake-bit as Moore, Oklahoma is, especially in the span between 1999 and 2013.  Anyway, back to this coronavirus business, I think May 3rd is too soon, but of course I have no say over the matter, and the Governor, being a politician, can change his mind at any time given new numbers on cases.  As for me, I'm staying home as much as possible (to the delight of my pets), sanitizing the books at the library, and washing my hands A LOT.  I miss my patrons terribly, but that can't be helped.  No one was planning on this infernal virus throwing a monkey wrench into the machinery. 

Now that I've addressed that lovely little topic, today's doll and post both have a convoluted backstory, one that was influenced by this coronavirus mess.  At the beginning of the year (back when things were still normal) my mother surprised me with two custom-made American Girl dolls that have been made into boys...but only one of them made it to Malden.  I had a post partially readied to introduce Kyle (a brown-eyed blonde) and Lucas (a brown-eyed brunette), but then Lucas got caught up in the limbo that is California's coronavirus-addled postal service and never made it here.  During this time I revised his and Kyle's shared post multiple times, hit "publish" at least once without adding any pictures, and then I became impatient and scrapped the post altogether because Lucas didn't come.  I wanted Kyle and Lucas to share a post, darn it!!!  I don't know if Lucas will ever make it here now, which is a bit of a shame since he was dressed up so cute (he was a pirate).  The lady who sold him to us gave Mama a full refund and offered another doll, an offer that we may take her up on in the future.  But either way, Lucas didn't make it.  Kyle did make it though, and I'm pleased to present him now.  Y'all got a glimpse of him in this post, but here's a better look at him.  Picture quality might be a bit crummy, as I was having a lot of trouble with my phone again.

Kyle MacDonald, as I noted above, is a custom job, one that my mother bought for me on a whim.  "I thought your group of dolls needed a boy," she said.  Kyle hails from Oh Deer Custom Dolls, and according to his listing he is a Just Like You doll of some stripe with the classic mold, a new wig, and a pair of Pleasant Company Samantha eyes.

Yep, those are definitely Samantha eyes!  Under normal circumstances only Samantha and Ivy have eyes like this.

Kyle's outfit appears to have come from Butterfly Kisses To You, as it matches one sold by that shop.  Kyle will be shedding this shortly, given the warming weather; it was COLD when he arrived, but it's slowly starting to warm up.  Seriously...almost May already???  As slow as this year has gone it feels like it still should be the end of March.  Anyway, it's a good thing Etsy has lots of cute stuff for boy dolls; American Girl has been picking up the slack a little, but Etsy is still the best place to go for clothes for boy dolls.  Actually, it's the best place to go for girl clothes too, LOL.  Kyle is an extremely nice product, by the way.  His seller (her handle name is Kirsten) gives her dolls a full overhaul before customizing them, and this includes string-tightening and vinyl-washing.  Kyle is thus both very clean and very tight in the joints.  I love that.

So for now Kyle is the only boy, though he enjoys life with the Peanut Gallery thoroughly.  He likes to play basketball with Julie and play make-believe with Camille, and he LOVES to play one of my favorite games, hide-and-seek.  Like a great many of my dolls, he's also fond of climbing trees, his favorite one being this moth-eaten maple tree on the dividing line between my mom's yard and mine.

See the knothole???  Perfect for pirate treasure, Kyle says.

I have to agree, LOL!  Maybe if Lucas ever arrives he can hide his treasure here.  If not, Kyle can since he's already stated that he wants to be a pirate for Halloween himself.  I thought he'd make a good Draco Malfoy, but his mind's made up.

I hope y'all like my little feller as much as I do!  He certainly was a nice surprise, for which I'm grateful to both Mama and Miss Kirsten who made him who he is.  I thank you both kindly for my fabulous boy doll!

Stay safe and stay well,
RagingMoon1987