Last month, we said hello to the Smithsonian National Zoo’s newest pair of irresistibly adorable cheetah cubs. And as wonderful as it was to look at the fluffy little felines, more amazing was the story of their birth. In April, when their mother, Ally, went into labor, birthing complications forced veterinarians at the Smithsonian Biological Conservation Institute in Front Royal, Va. to perform an emergency cesarean section.

Two cubs—a male and a female—survived the procedure. The zoo then announced that they would be raised by hand.

In the few weeks since we last checked up on them, the cheetahs have grown. They’re a little bigger, and they’ve sprouted little claws, but at one month old, we’ll be damned if they still aren’t the cutest little future killing machines we’ve ever seen.

The cubs are being raised by staff at the National Zoo’s Cheetah Conservation Station, a facility dedicated to protecting the species, which is endangered in the wild. The zoo plans to unveil the two cubs to the public later this summer.