Fayfessels in Atlanta
Since mom is working and dad is traveling Helena has become a temporary NY resident at grandma and grandpa’s. As mom and dad prepare to go on vacation to Iceland, most of the pictures and videos here for the next few days will be guest posts.
The last time Helena was held in front of the globe in Corona park she was only just over two months old and it was dad
Helena enjoys playing with uncle Adam’s fake ice cream set
Two of Helena’s favorite activities at once and no help needed going straight down these steps!
Popsicles and lights
Childhood friend Joey and new friend Ella meet Helena
Visiting uncle Amy
deer siting in monsey NYC
train strolling 
Helena and dad have taken off for an extended Northeast escape from the Atlanta heat just as they did last summer. Staying with grandma and grandpa in Flushing has been great. The family arrived Friday sans mom as she has to work this whole week but will meet up in Boston at the end of this week with them.
Helena seems to have figured out that dog food is not for eating but for feeding dogs. Purely on her own she decided to start feeding Sherlock
The whole family is excited about the Honda plug-in car upgrade
The firsts continue with stair climbing at school and then noticing the moon for the first time
fresh cucumber from the garden confuses Helena
Un grand soulagement (a big relief):
Hanging with friends @centennial park downtown
Helena has not been as quick to take up the water as her parents would have thought after showing a great love for it in her early days. But she’s working on getting into again…easing in slowly
A first person view from a young toddler:
Helena can claim to have done the entire walk-in trail with little assistance to the overlook and back at Cloudland Canyon at age 14 months.
Helena lives near the mounted police force in Atlanta and this last weekend she walked over to say hi
Not actually a camper but a future one at dad’s tennis camp for school
Maya’s parents have been visiting this last week and will have another week to spend quality time with their grand-daughter 
Oakland Cemetary, our local historic and beautiful cemetery, hosted an art exhibition recently. Helena found it quite fascinating
you want one?
Helena is now going down the big slide all by herself. She is loving it
Helena explores the mole rat tunnels at the zoo
Despite some moments of unhappiness, it was a very relaxing nice evening at the gardens.
reading of course
Update : Helena is now walking! She switches between crawling and walking still and can’t go very far but she can take several unsupported steps now! Video to come out shortly !
Helena watched papa’s tennis match this weekend while training herself for the game
And papa’s birthday!
This video is now a little bit old but it gives a good idea as to Helena’s progress towards walking and some good quality time spent with her grandparents
Helena is getting back to her normal routines at daycare and hanging in parks with mom and dad. She’s almost walking and loves climbing stairs!
Helena met three month old Sydney on their recent visit to Boston. Sydney is the daughter of friends Pam and Sarah and Helena is finding babies even smaller than herself interesting!
The family went to Boston for the weekend for Esther’s bat-mitzvah. It was a great trip and opportunity for more of the family to meet Helena. Helena also learned she’d have a new cousin friend from favorite (and now pregnant) cousin Rachel.
Helena has just started wearing shoes and still getting comfortable “walking” in her own shoes (more to come on this)
professor Sherlock watches over his pupil
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Actually these pictures were taken in Germany while Andrew was on Spring Break with his students in France and took a day trip to Europa Park. Europa Park is a amusement park organized by countries thematically. Papa misses Helena very much and saw a few reminders of her in the Greek part of the park
With papa gone for the time being, grandma and grandpa are visiting from New York making sure Helena is happy. She certainly seems to be enjoying their visit.
why on this day do we recline?
With Andrew off to France for Spring Break with his students, it’s time for Helena to put in some good mom time with Maya (and some baby goats)
Helena loves to turn pages of books now on her own
Helena had a rough day at day care after her birthday but rebounded strongly the day after. She is now on Urban Explorer’s food program and enjoying many new things
Helena may have enjoyed the gift wrapping as much as her presents themselves
Helena turned one today but the family celebrated yesterday on a balmy Atlanta Sunday afternoon with friends, family, and neighbors. The year has flown by and it’s crazy to imagine what she looked like in the hospital just coming out of the womb. Seems like we have an almost toddler on our hands now.
Researching strategy on the way to the tourney with the JV Boys Dunwoody Tennis team. Helena was a big hit among fans and players
Helena can now go both up and down stairs:
Helena continues to grow and explore. Lately she’s started crawling backwards down the stairs and using her training potty even more. She is quite the active baby!
Wearing her popped collar proudly
Another visit to Atlanta from uncle adam
Our house sitter from Xmas invited us to her wedding and Helena showed up in her Saturday best.
One of Helena’s pass times including opening and looking through the curtain
And a few remaining photos from last weekend from the Rosi-Kessel family visit
Adam and company (including Swiss exchange student Enya) visited their cousins and baby Helena for an extended weekend in Atlanta this week. Everybody had a great time with perfect weather and an activity filled week. One of the first stops for the group was nearby ATL zoo. Helena is definitely starting to react more to animals.
Part 1
Who needs toys when you have activities like climbing on the dishwasher?
Grandpa and Grandma didn’t do such a great job of covering their time with Helena over the weekend while mom and dad went skiing. Reports say that the first day was a little rough but the second day she got used to her Vermont home and was all smiles all day and enjoyed playing with some new toys.
After dad missed the flight home, the family connected over FaceTime later in the day
At the airport in Atlanta Helena danced to all the single ladies and made the worker’s night they told us. Did not get a chance to capture it on video sadly
Helena was proud to finally manage feeding herself with the spoon.
a little blurry pride
Helena was a little under the weather but she’s feeling better now.
An update from daycare Feb. 2018 Newsletter
Helena and her neighborhood contemporaries partied hard even though her native New England roots didn’t come through in the game itself.
Can you spot the blue patriot?
Helena enjoyed her first ever ride at the grocery store. She really was in the driver’s seat @ Kroger yesterday
Classic post that parents would find more interesting than probably anyone else
Helena is now cruising, grabbing onto whatever she can and moving from point a to point b. One of her favorite activities is throwing the bath twos into the bath from outside the bath as seen here
Got into the 60’s this past Sunday so the family enjoyed a nice Atlanta January breakfast outside, protected from the sun of course
Dad and mom visited old friend Haig and his Cameroonian friends for a post New Year’s dinner. Helena is starting to take some supported steps
The family road tripped down to Lumpkin, GA for a day hike to the famous “little Grand Canyon” of Georgia. If was a beautiful and warm winter day.
Grandpa Herb shares some favorites from the Florida vacation
Helena was in good spirits last night when she came to dance with Maya’s co-worker friends and rocked out to great live music in Decatur. Maya’s friend and colleague Sonya took over the brunt of the baby sitting work but was one of many “pass-the-baby” participants.
Helena is now cruising as they say and working on her ability to stand up using anything she can including tables, chairs, or stools, beds, or even the leg of your pants!
With Mom busy and nowhere else to turn, Papa took Helena to band practice. She didn’t just tolerate the loud raucous, she joined in on the fun and is now a proud honorary member of Back to Memphis
Andrew and Maya hosted friends for a brisket and games party and Helena got to see her older contemporary Lenlie
Maya’s parents arrived New Years Eve to ensure a seeming less grandparent transition for Helena. Helena loves to see them and practice her Russian
Helena was not to be seen. While grandparents babysat in ATL for a show at Venkman’s, Helena (mostly) slept away the new year. By the way, mom and dad also got away to Miami and the Everglades on their Florida trip! A rare no Helena blog post
Ok just kidding, Helena makes an appearance or two in the Concrete Jungle year-in-review video here! Couldn’t actually do a blog post on Helena’s website with no Helena
Great vacation in 2017 in warm sunny Florida with Grandpa and Grandma
A little fish in a big pond….
Helena and family visited the pinball museum of Delray yesterday. We may have a future wizard on our hands.
Helena loved playing in the sand but is still a little unsure about the ocean
Looking at the birds curiously.
Helena’s first non terrible time at the beach (overall 2nd time). She was very interested in sand and after a little fuss took a nice long nap
A much needed family vacation to Delray
the mustache is real and captivating
Three nights in a row Helena has been out past her bedtime…not that she’s complaining.
A bit hard to see but here she’s dancing with Maya’s co-workers:
trying mushrooms for the first time
Trying lentils from Dr U. and colleague Georgia
standing up in her stroller
Helena continues to make new discoveries including things she can eat (not always edible though), things she can pull (including herself up from time to time), and trying on a new floatie and training potty.
