Gigi Hadid is extremely private when it comes to sharing photos of her daughter, Khai, and she has never revealed her full face on social media.
However, the 28-year-old – who shares the two-year-old with her ex-boyfriend, Zayn Malik – does sometimes post updates on her family life and her latest photos of Khai have left her followers in disbelief.
Gigi took to Instagram on Monday to post some "Best of summer" photos, many of which featured Khai, who will be three in September, and her fans couldn't get over how grown up she looks.
One image shows the toddler peering over the side of a boat on a lake wearing a rainbow-colored tulle skirt with her long brown hair tumbling down her back. Other images featured Khai picking blueberries and enjoying an ice cream with her mom.
Gigi's followers were quick to react, and many voiced their surprise at her appearance, with one commenting: "She's so big already!! Her hair!!!" A second said: "She has grown so much!"
A third added: "That baby is too big she was just born!" A fourth wrote: "OMG Khai is sooo big," and a fifth penned: "Can't believe how big she is! Feels like she was born yesterday."
Gigi and Zayn announced the birth of their daughter in September 2020, sharing gorgeous black-and-white snapshots of her tiny hands. "Our girl joined us earth-side this weekend and she's already changed our world. So in love," Gigi said at the time.
Zayn added: "Our baby girl is here, healthy and beautiful. To try to put into words how I am feeling right now would be an impossible task. The love I feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding. Grateful to know her, proud to call her mine, and thankful for the life we will have together x."
Gigi and Zayn take their daughter's privacy so seriously that almost one year after her birth, the model penned an emotional open letter to the paparazzi, pleading with them to not share her daughter's face online.
She wrote: "I write this all to say: to the Paparazzi, press, and beloved fan accounts, you know we have never intentionally shared our daughter's face on social media. Our wish is that she can choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age, and that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible, without worrying about a public image that she has not chosen."
She added: "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE blur her face out of the images, if and when she is caught on camera". Explaining that as a new mother, all she wants is the best for her daughter, she urged her followers to "continue the conversation to protect minors in the media, even if they come from a public family".
Gigi also thanked the paparazzi for respecting her previous request to keep their distance from her baby, saying: "I would like to send a huge 'Thank You' to those paparazzi who have been so respectful, since I asked them to keep a distance while I walked with the stroller, since my first trip to NYC with Khai. I see you and I appreciate it".