alexist

I decided to get a baby wrap because they're so flexible--basically it's a giant piece of cloth that can be tied in all sorts of ways. I went for a Didymos, which is expensive but gets great reviews. I did have some hesitation on the sizing--the size page said size 6 to do all the carries if you're up to a size 14, size 7 if you're over. But when I went to order I saw that they sell a size 8. I got the 7 (5.2m versus 5.7m) since I've never heard of anyone with an 8.

Hmm, having tried the wrap-cross-carry the 2nd time, I've decided to order a size 8 and return this one (faster service than returning it first--I MIGHT have it before I leave Saturday. I ordered this one Tuesday and got it today! Fantastic service) I've also ordered a different pattern (this was Millefiori, not as good in person as it looked on screen--mostly because I was expecting smaller flowers, I think.) Ordered the red leaves pattern, and decided not to give in to temptaton and get the multicoloured striped one. A wrap looks stupid enough on someone of my size and shape without adding multicoloured stripes into the mix.

It'll be interesting trying to get to grips with it--wraps offer the most possibilities, but the steepest learning curve! There's a good instructional DVD, though (which fascinated Aliza for some reason). I did do a wrap cross carry fairly successfully. It was really comfortable and Aliza seemed to like it a lot, more than she ever liked the sling. (Although I don't regret buying that because the Maya's still the best for breastfeeding, and it was useful when she was tiny. The weight just isn't evenly distributed enough with it, whereas with a wrap there's 5+ metres wrapped all round you so the baby doesn't press on any one spot.)

The site where I got some of Aliza's diapers has some very nice toys--good quality wood ones. I've been getting depressed at the cheap, plasticky quality of a lot of the ones I see, and I like the solid wooden ones. They remind me more of the toys I had (I had some plastic ones too, of course; it was the '70s).

Also, when I was looking for alphabet blocks (she doesn't need them yet of course but I was reminded of them) I found Hebrew ones! Nifty. Not quite the classic design of my memory (those are in the icon) but very cool. She might like those when she's a little older :)

It's a shame I didn't know about the German size chart for the Didymos, which I just found:
http://www.didymos.de/html/groesse.htm

it includes the 8. The English one (http://www.didymos.de/english/html/groesse.htm) doesn't. If I'd seen the German one, I would have known right away to order the 8. If I remember rightly (yanata?) there's a difference of 30 between US and German sizes. (Grr, just Googled, and I'm getting conflicting results: one site has "European" 50 as being US 20, another has DE 50 / FR 54 / IT 56 = US 22 / UK 24.) Anyway, by that, I'd be just into the 8, and better a few extra cm than not enough.

I'd keep the 7 as it would be fine for shorter carries, indeed better as I wouldn't have excess fabric trailing (I really like the wrap cross ones so I do need the full length) but I can't justify it as they're expensive (€120 each! But the fabric is beautiful, and so well made, I don't feel it's overpriced). Bah.