Cocooned

The Sextuplets 1st Birthday!

The baby's first birthday was coming up in just 2 months, and with it, were a lot more 'first things'.

For instance, the babies had been crawling around a lot. They were on the move, and had to have a constant adult around, because they had discovered that grabbing stuff is fun! With the help of Casita, they would yank at objects on the counter, sneak into the other rooms and take things; Alma had found she was missing more than a few of her trinkets...

But it was good! Bruno, Fèlix and Agustín would have races, lining them up and seeing who could get to the finish line first. This was one of racing occasions, it was the family's off day; It was a regular, weekly thing. Every Saturday, the family would take a break from working and spend time with each other.

They were all in the front room, surrounding the children. Agustín, Fèlix and Bruno held the babies in place as Julieta and Pepa sat near the finish line, camera in Julieta's hands. Alma carefully bent down (taking note of how much easier it was to do so-lately she had felt much more energized.)

"Are all the contestants ready?" Alma chuckled, clapping her hands together. The babies all turned towards their Abuelita's voice, smiling. They giggled and babbled in delight as they watched her raise a flag. "¡Preparados...listos...ya!" Alma waved the flag down and the 3 men previously holding them back let them go. The adults were cheering them on as the 6 raced towards Alma.

Camilo was in the lead, and Luisa was in last. Luisa didn't seem to like this-but rather than crying, she stopped and lifted her knees. Her grunts gathered the attention of the adults-and the other babies. The adults watched in awe as Luisa pushed herself up off the ground, grunting as she did. Finally she stood up and took a few steps forward towards Antonio and Isabela. The family erupted in cheers. The adults were a mix of crying, squealing, and laughing, with Julieta taking several pictures. All of the babies crawled towards her and surrounded her, clapping and giggling.

"Ayyyy! Look at my hijas go, they're getting so big!" Agustín said, scooting closer to the group of children.

"Right? It seems like just yesterday we got them back...And now they're almost a year old." Pepa smiled.

It was quite obvious to everyone: these babies were smart. Incredibly so. They seemed to always be in sync with each other and sometimes it seemed as if they were able to talk among themselves. And Luisa was no exception. She noticed how both siblings and all of her primos were attempting to stand themselves. Camilo succeeded and walked towards Dolores-Julieta took more photos and squealed in delight.

"Look at them go, they're helping each other!" Julieta snapped another photo.

"Luisa has always been so helpful, even as an infant," Alma cooed.

While the adults were gushing over the photos, Luisa took it upon herself to help her siblings and primos-just like before, always the strong and helpful one. She bent down and grabbed Antonio's hands, holding in turn wobbled upwards. He himself took a few steps and smiled as he did. Camilo helped Dolores up. She fell down again, but after a few attempts was able to keep her balance. Mirabel was able to do it on her own, and in turn helped Isabela, who had managed to stand, but not walk.

All 6 were standing now, and the adults finally took notice of their efforts. They had been able to stand before; but only for a couple seconds. Now, they were standing up just fine and were even taking their first steps. While Julieta took at least 20 pictures with Bruno and Alma, Agustín, Pepa, Fèlix cheered them on as they watched the babies take their first steps around Casita's floor. The house had even used its tiles to help the babies keep balance, bouncing them back up when they fell down.

"Rápido, take a photo while they're all standing!" Bruno pointed. The adults all called out to the babies, who at this point, were all standing. They each looked at Julieta holding the camera up. The babies watched in happiness and curiosity as Julieta snapped a photo of their first steps, capturing the moment forever. While the adults pecked kisses and squeezed the babies and congratulated them, Alma grabbed the developed photo. She smiled at her nietos first steps. She hadn't been able to see all of them before, so she was absolutely ecstatic that she did this time. She knew now she was doing it right.