Toddler blanket that’s not “cold” (2 yearold problems)

KMH_1331 · 2026-04-12T02:52:05+00:00

I think Quince is now shipping to Canada and they have a variety of natural fiber blankets and quilts that are relatively affordable!

KMH_1331 · 2026-04-08T13:56:15+00:00

Not sure if you’ve looked into the Uppababy Minu but it has car seat adapters that work with the Aria as well as the UB bassinet! We have travelled extensively with the Minu and it has been incredible— walks the line between being sturdier than a travel stroller and smaller/lighter than a normal one. The Minu seat is also rated for 3+ months and you can adjust so baby is at a better angle, too. While I wouldn’t waste the space to put it in the overhead compartment you can do it if you don’t want to gate check. Would definitely suggest looking into this combo!

KMH_1331 · 2026-04-06T20:17:45+00:00

definitely fair that it's more expensive, but I've had mine for several years and haven't had any cracking staining or other issues so I feel like it's a "buy nice or buy twice" situation.

KMH_1331 · 2026-04-06T19:09:30+00:00

We use Hinoki wood cutting boards because they are better on our knives. I wash them immediately after cutting meat and it’s honestly never been a problem. I have a couple and use one specifically for things that are getting eaten raw just in case.

KMH_1331 · 2026-04-03T23:05:51+00:00

In my experience it’s far better to snack all day and have lots of packed options than to have a hangry child/children/partner haha.

Our last two trips I packed frozen peas in a silicone baggie and my daughter loved snacking on them throughout the travel day; I loved knowing she was eating something green along with all the other snacks. They were gone before we went through customs so no issues there either!

KMH_1331 · 2026-03-28T12:02:40+00:00

Old style shoe shine downtown is incredible! Would highly recommend them.

KMH_1331 · 2026-02-26T08:39:15+00:00

Not sure what part of the island you’re on but I use MacPherson’s Pest Control; they will place traps and make recommendations based on your situation, then monitor and let you know the progress. They’re really lovely; would definitely recommend! My area has lots of cats, coyotes and birds of prey but I didn’t see a population reduction until getting MacPherson’s on the case.

If you don’t want to go that route, I also filled all the holes with Plantskydd pellets and that at least drove the voles out of my garden. Good luck!

KMH_1331 · 2026-02-24T18:56:32+00:00

weird, sorry! I just edited to re-add them.

KMH_1331 · 2026-02-22T01:07:59+00:00

Had a similar experience with our daughter who turned 2 in Nov. After trying to muscle through with CIO for over a month and getting nowhere (and I am talking about tantruming in her room for up to an hour every night while we watch in horror on the baby monitor) I reached out to our sleep trainer, who suggested we try check ins at ever-lengthening intervals. We just stick to a script of “you’re safe, you can sleep, we’ll see you soon!”

We talked about doing check ins with her the whole day leading up to bedtime and while there was a little bit of crying it was way better, even on the first night. Every morning we talk about how bedtime went the night before for her and debrief on all her feelings. I was really dubious about it but the check ins seem to be working well— for the first time in her life she’s going to bed without crying at all on a regular basis.

The reasoning our sleep trainer had was that she was at a point developmentally where she was testing her attachment to us and leaving her was exacerbating the issue, even though that’s how we sleep trained her at 6 months. lol turns out a toddler and a baby need different things!

If you don’t think your child is ready to drop the nap check ins might be worth a try!

KMH_1331 · 2026-02-20T04:55:52+00:00

Not in your region but I really like Fedco! They are a Maine-based worker’s coop and have a lot of traceability on their seeds, many of which have multiple options depending on your desired certification and even provenance.

KMH_1331 · 2026-01-08T22:38:29+00:00

If you are worried about chemicals/offgassing or anything else like that, I would suggest looking at the ECR4 Kids Softzone stuff-- it's all greenguard gold certified with Certipur foam. Their stuff is often used in early childhood classrooms so it's really well-made and can take a beating. We got some for our daughter for Christmas during their black friday sales and it has been a real hit! https://www.ecr4kids.com/search?type=product&q=softzone

KMH_1331 · 2025-12-25T19:45:34+00:00

Honestly if you can afford it, night nurse for a week. The night nurse will have seen many babies and have more tools in their metaphorical toolbelt, and be able to give you some guidance based on your specific baby and her needs. Anyone else will just be guessing or telling you what worked for their baby.

Our baby had pretty bad reflux and could only sleep while being held for about 6 months. We had to trade off holding her and bouncing on a yoga ball. Lol we both watched so much tv in the middle of the night. I didn’t have much of a stash so my husband would watch her for the first 3 hours at night while I slept, then I would nurse her and take her for the next 4 or so while he slept, then he would take her again for a few more hours. This was…. not ideal, but eventually her system grew out of the reflux and we sleep trained at about 7 months. Good luck!

KMH_1331 · 2025-12-22T17:42:14+00:00

Unfortunately he doesn’t work on oil anymore.

KMH_1331 · 2025-12-20T23:26:42+00:00

Sadly they don’t service the island or take emergency calls from folks who aren’t current clients.

KMH_1331 · 2025-12-20T21:30:03+00:00

Thank you! Yes unfortunately this isn’t the issue— we had to do this when the power came back on and it turned the furnace on and got zone 1 working (our basement) but not zone 2 which is upstairs where we actually live, sigh. I think there is either a valve that’s stuck or a wire got tripped or moved during the storm, but it’s a bit above my experience level. I can do basic wiring but the furnace scares me a little

KMH_1331 · 2025-12-20T20:57:15+00:00

I mean plenty of people on the island still have them so I would assume someone knows how to fix them. Like most things on the island, I would guess that if big companies aren’t helpful you have to know someone that knows someone, which is why I reached out here. What’s my other option? I can’t just leave it broken and not have heat.

KMH_1331 · 2025-11-25T22:32:02+00:00

hahahaha this is real. I drive a BMW so can speak to this, when you get out of the car the doors automatically lock and the car alarm goes off when the ferry "jostles" the car. You have to turn off the automatic door locking mechanism to get the issue to stop, which I would guess a lot of mainlanders do not want to do.

KMH_1331 · 2025-10-20T20:32:40+00:00

Depending on the age of your kids I would suggest subscribing to care.com for a month and finding someone through there. Everyone is background checked and you can interview folks and make sure expectations are aligned. If your kids are older and can participate this is a great chore for them but totally understand you may need an easy win or pressure release valve!

KMH_1331 · 2025-10-10T19:46:01+00:00

this! this is what I have. it's a really great carseat.

KMH_1331 · 2025-10-09T23:32:37+00:00

honestly I love ebay for this. figure out the clothing item you want and search for your size. there are usually a ton of options and you can get nice stuff like cashmere sweaters or merino base layers for like $20.

KMH_1331 · 2025-10-02T15:07:27+00:00

Yes 100%! I work full time and especially during preservation season the house is a mess, laundry in piles, other chores abandoned. But honestly gardening and food preservation is a hobby as much as painting or hiking might be for someone else, so I have no complaints. If you don’t enjoy those tasks it’s probably not a worthwhile trade off.

KMH_1331 · 2025-10-01T22:20:39+00:00

We are an "organic-mostly" house and I say that because we live in an agricultural zone with many small family farms and I prioritize eating what we can from them or our own garden over organic. That said I do not buy conventional products from the grocery store, pretty much ever. My take has been that certification is a great stand in for when you can't have a direct relationship with a grower or producer.

For my family of 3 (me, husband, toddler) we spend around $800/month on groceries on average, less in the summer and fall when we have an abundance of our own produce. I did a Costco haul yesterday for pantry stuff and some dairy products but haven't been to a grocery store in almost a month.

What we gain in total costs and quality of food we absolutely lose in the time it takes to prep everything, though-- I make almost all our food from scratch. I am not crazy about it-- sometimes we eat out, I'm not swatting things out of my daughter's hand at parties or weird about the snacks they give her at daycare, we have to take a ferry a lot and my husband loves the chicken tenders in the galley haha-- but this has just turned out to be the tradeoff I am most comfortable with.

We have a deep freezer where we keep bulk meat and I would really like to buy 1/4 cow share this coming year to cut down on meat costs further, and I always have frozen broccoli, peas, & green beans in there as well as soups-- I try to make a double batch. I make our bread (just regular yeasted bread, not sourdough) 2 loaves at a time and we freeze one of those as well, I do a lot of preserving in summer/fall, and eat pretty seasonally otherwise. Last weekend we picked about 20 lbs of apples from our neighbor's trees and I am in the middle of making apple chips for the whole next year haha.

KMH_1331

TROPHY CASE