My baby made everyone on the flight happy.

[Robb]

Seriously.

We flew to see grandma and grandpa for the holidays. The Dingbaby's just over 6 months old. As we walked onto the plane, eyes rolled. "Oh dear God, a baby!"

More eyes rolled as we sat in First Class. Especially among the First Class people. I'd never flown up there before, neither had Mrs. Robb, but at the gate they offered $50 upgrades, and walking up there with the cutest kid in the world we talked the gate agent down to $25. We decided to go for it, figuring we needed every "edge" for her first flight to go well, having read so many horror stories.

Then the plane took off. And so did my baby.

First she made the flight attendants love her. Big smiles and waves. She grabbed the oxygen mask during the demonstration -- right in front of her, after all -- and laughed with it. The guy doing the demo melted.

After we took off we emptied the little magazine thing (we were first-row bulkhead) and filled it with her toys. She stood there taking them out, laughing and turning back and smiling.

The flight attendants came over and each was smiled and laughed at. They picked her up, she giggled and gave hugs. They then took turns walking her around the airplane, introducing her to row after row, where everyone smiled back at her. People asked us about her. Complimented her. Complimented us. We just kind of said thanks, and shrugged a lot.

The co-pilot came back to meet her. Said the flight attendant told him he'd be missing out if he didn't. He picked her up, she cooed, he was in love.

Pilot came back a little later. Same thing. Walked her forward to look through the door at all the lights.

Another flight attendant said he didn't have the usual wings for her (first flight), so he took a pin off of his jacket to give to her. Had a little postcard of the plane, wrote down the date and data for the flight, the entire crew signed it with little notes.

We landed and they said "Bye bye (Dingbaby)!!" over the intercom at the end of the "thanks for flying with us" speech. And the airplane applauded.

As we waited for our gate-checked car seat in the jetway, the passengers all came past and said goodbye. I've never seen more people happy in one place at the same time.

FWIW, she does this kind of stuff all the time, everywhere we go. I have no idea why she's so agreeable, nor what I've done to deserve her. :D

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. aww. what a lovely story.

thanks for sharing!

[Call Me Wesley]

2. You brought a baby on a plane? Post that in GD!

:P Great story; glad you had a good time! :hi:

[Callalily]

3. It is evident that you have

a special baby. Flying can be stressful, boring, and downright tedious. Dingbaby entered passengers hearts and became a pleasant distraction.

You've got one special girl there!

And yes, continue to shrug your shoulders, b/c sometimes we don't know why we are blessed with great children.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. the child has never met a stranger ...

special quality, I hope she maintains it :)

[Robb]

12. Heh

She does know strangers, and usually is quite cautious. Even on the flight she always was looking back to see if mom and dad were still grinning. We of course couldn't help it, so she got the message all those strangers must be good people.

That said, she still cries when she sees the local grandma, although I think that's because we've left her with grandma once or twice. Grandma = mom and dad leaving, I think. Something to work on. :)

Everything I took on the plane was blurry, but I'm hanging onto this one despite my finger in the frame. Germ-phobes, turn away... :D

[femmocrat]

5. Awww..... she sounds adorable.

Such a nice momento of her first plane trip! :)

[mnhtnbb]

6. Awww...lucky plane load of people. Believe me, we've all been on flights

with the baby from you know where and none of us look forward to listening to crying kids when you can't get up and walk away.

When we flew from L.A. to London with our 10 month old son (20 some years ago)on an overnight flight,
I was delighted to hear people say as we were deplaning, "I didn't know there was a baby on the plane!" He slept all night in a bassinet on the floor in front of our bulkhead seats.

[progressoid]

7. Wow, cool.

We flew international once when our daughter was about 2 1/2. All we got was a cold McDonald's happy meal and they stuck us one row in front of the smoking section (back when they had those). But it was Christmas in Paris so I ain't complaining.

[tigereye]

8. aw, that's so sweet! Nice story, Robb.

She sounds like a cutie!

[Schema Thing]

9. shrug your shoulders....

...but there is probably more than just luck at work here. The genetics could be the same, but if your baby lived in a negative atmosphere, she'd probably not be so positive about new people and new situations.

That said, my ex and I have both wondered how we got so lucky with our daughter. :)

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

10. What a sweet story!

I wasn't even there and I'm happy just reading this! You got some kid there bub :hug:

[Missy Vixen]

11. I love this

She's destined for greatness. ;-)

What a sweet story, and lucky you!

[Redstone]

13. Thank you. That was very touching.

Redstone

[goldcanyonaz]

14. I love babies, it's usually the parents I can't stand. Beautiful post!

[kaiden]

15. This thread is no good without photos of DingBaby!

[zanana1]

24. Agreed. Cannot appreciate post without pictures. nt

[kayakjohnny]

16. Very nice story.

Really heartwarming.

All the best to you and your family, Robb.

This made me smile tonight.

[Fleshdancer]

17. My daughter has always been great on planes

No tears, no yelling, no tantrums...only smiles and laughter. She's 9 now and she's my favorite travel companion.

May you have many more wonderful travel experiences with your adorable dingbaby. I honestly believe some people were just built for exploring the world and it sounds like your girl is one of them. :)

[driver8]

18. What a wonderful story!

I have flown with small children and know how stressful it can be -- sounds like your daughter is a natural born traveler!!

[OhioBlue]

19. Great Story!!

What a wonderful holiday you must have enjoyed with such a sweet lil' baby.

[applegrove]

20. 6 months old is the perfect age for a baby. They are always so charismatic at that age.

[JCMach1]

21. My daughter's were born flyers... have been flying without trouble since

3months...

I remember when my now 11 yr. old was 7 during the war between Israel and Lebanon. We had a weird flight on Turkish Air with both Israelis and Lebanese on the flight to NYC. She made friends with everyone and the elderly Jewish lady she was sitting next to gave her the knit hat she had crocheted during the flight.

[momto3]

22. Wonderful story.

My daughter was 50-50 on a plane. I always did my best to keep her happy, but she had a mind of her own (still does!). Some flights she would entertain everyone on the plain and other flights, I admit, we were the family everyone hated being with on a plane. I actually think the pilots got us to our destination 30 minutes early one time due to her unhappiness. :blush:

[Skittles]

23. it can happen

my mum took me and two brothers, ages 1, 2, and 3, from Anerica to England on a plane and we didn't scream or act out - my dad simply told us it was NOT ALLOWED

[LibertyLover]

25. That's so neat. Congratulations.

My daughter did a lot of flying when she was young - around China and then China to LA and LA to Baltimore - and did very well. So we took her on several other flights down to Orlando and out to Denver for a family wedding. She was very well behaved on all of them and since she is an adorable little Chinese kid we got lots of smiles and attention. The best though was on a flight 3 years, just before Christmas. We took her and my 26 year old stepdaughter to London for a week. My little one, then 4 years old, walked on the plane with the aplomb of a world weary seasoned traveler and sat down in her seat. The flight attendant for our section started to come over to give her some help but stopped when she heard the kidlet announce to her sister. "Now Jiejie (elder sister), you have to put your stuff up there (pointing to the overhead bin) and then sit down and put your seatbelt on." The flight attendant started to laugh and then pulled another flight attendant over to look.

[dugaresa]

26. how sweet, my eldest has that quality

when he was a toddler people would just come up to him and give him money and pats on the head.

you are a lucky dingdad!

[marzipanni]

27. I had a little taste of what you experienced with your daughter

My son, when he was 9 months old, garnered compliments from fellow passengers and flight attendants in our immediate section of the plane at the end of a San Francisco to Boston flight.
He sat on my lap, played with stuff on the tray table, ate, nursed, and slept. I was a teeny bit self-conscious on the flight back when I was seated next to a young businessman type, and in the second-from the back row, so that everyone and his brother might catch me nursing on their way to the W.C.! We were pretty discreet about it, and my son felt all was normal, which kept him happy. :)

[Odin2005]

28. AWW, BABIES!

:D