Since Gabe missed Sidewalk Film Festival last year, he vowed to bring Gustav this year. I took off work on Friday and we drove to Birmingham. Leslie and Jimmy fly down from Delaware, and Zak and Tess drove in from Missouri. The Atlanta Film Festival staff were there as well.
The Tutwiler Hotel was lovely and across the street from the park. We originally planned to have the birthday picnic at the Civil Rights Park, but there was a different park across the street from our hotel. However, it was gray and raining on Saturday morning so we decided to have the get-together in one of the rooms in the hotel lobby.
On Friday after we arrived, we went to the Opening Night pre-party. Gabe insisted that the location was only 4 blocks away from our hotel, but walking those long 4 blocks in the rain carrying 20 pounds was no fun! However, once we got there everyone loved Gustav.
We woke up to the sound of rain on Saturday, but we had a nice breakfast reunion at the hotel with Zak and Tess, who arrived at around 2am Saturday morning. Gustav loved Auntie T's bagel mouth!
Sadly we had a little incident before the party. Gustav was asleep on the bed with me when I had to go to the bathroom. I placed some pillows around him and thought he would be okay since he was in the middle of a king sized bed. I went to the bathroom and then heard this loud thud proceeded by loud crying. Oh my gosh...my heart nearly stopped. I ran into the room and saw Gustav faced down on the floor; he fell from the bed. I picked him up and called Gabe, who was with Leslie and Tess. I got Gustav to stop crying after a few minutes and he was smiling again within 10 minutes.
While I was waiting for Gabe to get back to the hotel, I called the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's nurse hotline. I've called them several times on the weekend when my pediatrician was unavailable, and they are so responsive and wonderful. The nurse went down a list of symptoms to look for and luckily Gustav had none (no bruises or tenderness, no sleepiness, etc.); in fact, he was back to normal and acting like a monkey within 10 minutes. Also, when I thought back to it, I don't remember him screaming hysterically but rather crying out of surprise. I believe he was probably still asleep when he fell. So, that was our drama for the day!
One year to the minute! 15:44
As far as the party, everything was very low-keyed because we didn't want a lot of hoopla. All that we brought were the cupcakes. However, Mema came prepared with hats, banners, favors, bubbles, etc. She went all out!
Besides the family and the staff from the Atlanta Film Fest, our friends Skizz and Heidi joined us. Michele Forman, a Sidewalk Board member and film producer, brought her 2 year old Max. It was very sweet, and then we all went to the hotel restaurant and had a lovely dinner.
Auntie Tea calling from NY and
singing Happy Birthday!
His face after trying scallops for the first time.
He is his daddy's son and loved it!
The Tutwiler Hotel was lovely and across the street from the park. We originally planned to have the birthday picnic at the Civil Rights Park, but there was a different park across the street from our hotel. However, it was gray and raining on Saturday morning so we decided to have the get-together in one of the rooms in the hotel lobby.
On Friday after we arrived, we went to the Opening Night pre-party. Gabe insisted that the location was only 4 blocks away from our hotel, but walking those long 4 blocks in the rain carrying 20 pounds was no fun! However, once we got there everyone loved Gustav.
We woke up to the sound of rain on Saturday, but we had a nice breakfast reunion at the hotel with Zak and Tess, who arrived at around 2am Saturday morning. Gustav loved Auntie T's bagel mouth!
Sadly we had a little incident before the party. Gustav was asleep on the bed with me when I had to go to the bathroom. I placed some pillows around him and thought he would be okay since he was in the middle of a king sized bed. I went to the bathroom and then heard this loud thud proceeded by loud crying. Oh my gosh...my heart nearly stopped. I ran into the room and saw Gustav faced down on the floor; he fell from the bed. I picked him up and called Gabe, who was with Leslie and Tess. I got Gustav to stop crying after a few minutes and he was smiling again within 10 minutes.
While I was waiting for Gabe to get back to the hotel, I called the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's nurse hotline. I've called them several times on the weekend when my pediatrician was unavailable, and they are so responsive and wonderful. The nurse went down a list of symptoms to look for and luckily Gustav had none (no bruises or tenderness, no sleepiness, etc.); in fact, he was back to normal and acting like a monkey within 10 minutes. Also, when I thought back to it, I don't remember him screaming hysterically but rather crying out of surprise. I believe he was probably still asleep when he fell. So, that was our drama for the day!
One year to the minute! 15:44
As far as the party, everything was very low-keyed because we didn't want a lot of hoopla. All that we brought were the cupcakes. However, Mema came prepared with hats, banners, favors, bubbles, etc. She went all out!
Besides the family and the staff from the Atlanta Film Fest, our friends Skizz and Heidi joined us. Michele Forman, a Sidewalk Board member and film producer, brought her 2 year old Max. It was very sweet, and then we all went to the hotel restaurant and had a lovely dinner.
Auntie Tea calling from NY andsinging Happy Birthday!
His face after trying scallops for the first time.He is his daddy's son and loved it!
