Babies Born With Down Syndrome 3 Days in a Row Share an Epic Birthday Cake Smash

Back in June, photographer Nicole Starr had the pleasure of working with a nonprofit, Julia's Way, to capture 10 babies with Down syndrome in a photo shoot that celebrates breastfeeding, which is where three little ladies, Catherine, Mae, and Harper had the chance to meet. The girls, who all happen to be born three days in a row and each had major heart surgery at Boston Children's Hospital within a few months of being born, just celebrated their first birthdays — and sat for an adorable cake smash photo shoot with Nicole to celebrate.

"Meet our 'Three of Hearts,'" Nicole wrote in a post to her business's Facebook. "When we discovered that these heart warriors were all turning one the same week, we knew we had to do something special to celebrate!" The girls were photographed with individual birthday cakes in different colored tutus with — fittingly — heart garlands hanging all around.

"This was my first time doing a cake smash with three babies at once," Nicole told POPSUGAR. "You never know how a baby will react to their cake smash or to being in a photography studio, so I was prepared for three meltdowns! We lucked out, and the birthday girls were calm and happy almost the entire time. It was so incredible to watch them together, and each baby approached the cake in her own unique way. Harper (green tutu) really got into it and covered herself in frosting! Catherine (purple tutu) was much more hesitant and delicate, and Mae (pink tutu) was all smiles and kept leaning toward her cake, rocking her body back and forth like she was going to face plant because she was so eager to get a taste of that frosting!"

Although we can't get over how cute these photos turned out, Nicole explained what it was like to be behind the lens during the shoot that produced such sweet snaps.

Ahead, see Cate, Mae, and Harper tear into their birthday cakes!