Kid You Not

"She is less than 10 days old when you see this," she says pointing to the navel.

"It isn't rare to have to do a double take when a stroller comes by," says Kathi Edelson Wolder, PR rep for Jones Publishing, which sponsored the event. Jones Publishing publishes the magazines Dolls, Teddy Bear Review, Doll Crafter, Doll Costuming, Fired Arts & Crafts and Popular Ceramics. This was its 11th expo in Washington.

To an outsider, the first word that comes to mind: weird. Women are carrying and caring for fake children, and even though these children are fake, the love is real. One woman is holding a baby over her shoulder tapping his back the way a mother would after a feeding. You want to walk up and say: "Hey, lady, you can keep patting, but he ain't never going to burp."

But that would take away from what's happening: the intensity of make-believe.

The doll-moms are not like the people who dress up like Captain Kirk and stand in line waiting for the next "Star Trek" movie to open. Or the grown men who make meticulous miniature towns for their model trains to pass through.

The baby people don't dress in weird costumes (a few did have fanny packs) and for the most part, they look like your average soccer mom. And they are moms (some have real children), even if these children don't wet themselves or cry -- and you can't make fun of moms. The only thing that might make them stand out, and this is really a minor detail, is the little piece of silicone that they treat like a person.

These little creatures with their tiny noses and their almond eyes somehow give something back to the owners. Spend about 10 minutes watching these proud mothers going around smiling and talking with the wrinkly little babies, and it becomes believable. That stroller is a necessity (how else would you push a baby around?), and these preemies do need baby blankets because it's chilly in here.

Sue Smith, 42, the woman from England, has been collecting for two years and has nine dolls. She says she has spent "thousands and thousands" of dollars on clothes and baby accessories. She has one doll that is 6 years old and wears a size 9 shoe. "It is hard when you are out shopping. When I've been out buying shoes, I had to explain that these were for a doll. People look at you funny."

She is married and has a spaniel, no real children. Her husband was home with the dog and the "babies," who sleep in cribs and bassinets.

"This is one of the places where I feel like I can walk around with my baby," she says. "I can't do this on the streets."

For her 14th birthday her mother got her a really nice doll crib, and she believes that is when the love grew. "I'm sort of careful because I only buy things that I love," Smith says. This is such an expensive hobby."

Kneisley started making the babies 4 1/2 years ago after she saw one in a store in New Orleans.