When a mom of two decided to document her youngest child's monthly growth, she never anticipated capturing how quickly time can pass in her family.
Jess Darrington, from Idaho, shared a reel on Instagram featuring her newborn daughter being handed to her 4-year-old son for a hug each month. The idea, she told Newsweek, was to capture her baby's milestones.
"Parents typically decide to capture still monthly photos of their babies growing and stop when they turn 1. I wanted to capture videos of my baby growing and thought it would be so cool to do alongside her brother [instead]," Darrington said.
But as the months passed, the mom of two noticed something unexpected. "I didn't realize how much my son would be growing up alongside her," she admitted.
Darrington wrote on the video's text overlay: "When you wanted to take monthly milestone videos to watch your baby grow but you actually watched both of your babies grow."
The video has clocked up 5.6 million views and over 380 comments. In the clip, viewers not only see her baby's development from a 1-month-old to a thriving toddler, but they also witness her 4-year-old turning into a more confident and mature big brother.
"All the sudden at 7 months he seemed like a different kid," one user wrote. "Watching your older babies love the new baby is the best feeling ever," commented another.
In her caption, Darrington wrote: "Time is such a thief", a sentiment that resonated with fellow parents. "This one hits hard! My baby girl just turned 15 months old and I swear she's gone from baby to toddler overnight," a third user wrote.
Another shared that they had just had their third and last baby at the end of October. "I'll have a 6 yr old in March and my other LO just turned 3. It's so hard to believe my first baby is big enough to go to school. It all happens so fast," they said.
One user called Darrington's clip "the cutest thing on the internet."
"The days are long, but the years are short is how the saying goes, and this indeed is true when raising kids. I can't believe how quickly 19 months have flown by," Darrington said.
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