FIRST IN FLIGHT

Nobody wanted to sit near this guy.

For several weeks, we had been nervous about taking the Little One on his first plane ride.

In all our years of traveling together, the Wife and I have never needed more than two bags. For the trip we just returned from, we had six bags.

SIX! 

We spent a great New Year in Pittsburgh visiting with friends and family from the Wife's side of our family. Of course, to get there, we had to fly both ways. 

We anticipated the worst. So too, it seems, did everyone else who was on our flights. If you want to know what it feels like to be a pariah, bring a baby with you to the airport. Seriously, hold a baby while you stand in line to board a plane and you'll get more dirty looks than a Yankee fan at Fenway. 

That's before we even got on the plane.

When you fly Southwest, there are no assigned seats. Clearly, nobody wants to sit near a baby. We had a total of four flights - on the way there, a stopover in Philly, and a stop in Baltimore on the way home. On two of the flights, the absolute last seat taken was the one in our row. On the other two flights, nobody sat with us at all. 

Turns out, our Little One is a tremendous traveler. We were pleasantly stunned at how well he did, barely making a sound on any of the flights. He essentially fell asleep during takeoff and then slept through all four flights. Before falling asleep, he smiled and made nice with those who "got stuck" sitting near us.

By the end of every flight, several people commented to us about how well behaved the Little One was. We just smiled and said, "Thank you."

I don't know whether we were talking to the strangers, or to the Little One.