Flying with M

I was concerned that my 1 year old daughter would be a wild woman on our flight to Florida. We boarded the plane and I strapped her on to my chest in her baby Bjorn carrier. She sat quietly for a while taking in the other passengers. I fed her crackers and other snacks for a while. When I glanced to my right for a moment, M reached to the chair in front of us and grabbed a fist full of the woman's hair who was seated there. We apologized and began playing more interactive games with one another.
I started with find daddy's hat. M found it quickly. I moved to daddy's hair. That was tougher. I think M believes it sounds like ear, because she almost pulled my ear off. She easily identified my eyes (eye gouge) and nose (by pulling out my nose hair). She found me teeth and mouth, next. After that I showed M where all of those parts were on her face. After that, it was hide and seek under Daddy's hat. She was screaming with delight. After every peek a boo, M would giggle and giggle.
Finally I glanced at the seat back in front of me to see how far our flight had progressed. When I looked back at M, she had another fist full of hair in her hand. After I pried her hand loose she began to fuss a bit more. She wanted out of her seat. My wife offered to take her, but I knew if we went down that road we were in trouble. She would have bounced around on her siblings and things would have gone downhill from there. Instead I walked with her to the back of the plane. We played in the bathroom for awhile and enjoyed the mirror.
Then I walked her to the front of the plane and again to the back. That was enough to rock her off to sleep. I hugged her at the back of the plane for almost an hour while she snoozed on my chest. Another dad and I chatted with our little girls on our chests.
After M's nap we settled back into our seats and prepared for landing. My wife was excited that the flight had gone so well. I enjoyed our last few minutes of "name the body part" and then our flight was over. It turned out to be a magical ride. I was concerned before the flight about how M would be able to handle that amount of time in a confined space. We did terrific. I have no worries about the return flight and am totally looking forward to bonding time with my smallest baby.