We’d never purchased a fruit/veggie pouch for Kaia even once until we went to Germany. I thought it would be a good time to introduce them to her given that we were on the go there and not in our home base, and so she might be interested in what most of her peers were having multiple times a day. It was a bit hit or miss: she seemed to want them, but when she’d have a taste or two, she’d get frustrated by the squeezing (read: MESS that never ended up in her mouth!) or get bored of the flavor. I tried to buy some more in Australia, and again, it was hit or miss: she ate entire ones with a spoon, while others, she’d reject completely. When our ex-nanny tried to give one to her at home, she’d always reject them, so I eventually emptied them all out and mixed them with oatmeal for her.

“Kaia is the only baby I know who doesn’t like pouches,” the ex-nanny would say, completely astonished. Secretly, I was pretty proud, but I never admitted this out loud.

Well, occasionally at school now, a fruit/veggie pouch is on the snack menu, so I allowed the teachers to give it to her. And occasionally, she’d actually eat them all. It was likely the peer pressure after seeing all her classmates devour them. On Qatar, she was given these pouches, and she would eat one and reject the other, but it’s clear now that she is okay with them and will eat them properly when she feels like it.

I’m a bit hesitant to buy too many of them, though. I don’t want it to be a regular food for her. I want Pookster to eat real, whole food the way it’s meant to be eaten, and pureed food out of a pouch is not regular, real everyday food. I would rather have it be a treat for her. So now, I’m researching different options for this occasional treat.