Mark Wahlberg and his wife Rhea celebrate son Michael’s 18th birthday with heartfelt throwback photos: ‘Proud of the amazing young man you’ve become’

Mark Wahlberg’s son Michael — the second eldest of his four children with wife Rhea Durham — celebrated his milestone 18th birthday on Thursday.

The Hollywood leading man, 52, honored the special day on Instagram by sharing a photo of himself holding a then-baby Michael back in 2008. 

In the caption, the Fear star gushed over how ‘proud’ he is of Michael, who is an aspiring football player.

Watch Live Sports Streaming!

‘Happy 18th b day buddy [heart emoji] can’t believe how fast you’ve grown up [heart emoji] so proud of the young man you are,’ Wahlberg wrote, along with a prayer emoji.

Rhea also used Instagram to pay tribute to the teen, who she described as ‘kind, thoughtful, mature and beautiful inside and out.’

 

 Mark Wahlberg honored his son Michael’s 18th birthday on Thursday as he shared a throwback photo of himself and a then-baby Michael on Instagram

‘Happy 18th b day buddy [heart emoji] can’t believe how fast you’ve grown up [heart emoji] so proud of the young man you are,’ Wahlberg wrote, along with a prayer emoji

She included a slideshow of some of her favorite photos of Michael from when he was a baby until now. his 18 years.

’18‼️ I truly cannot believe that you are 18 my buddy. This a tough one,’ the model began in her caption.

‘I remember that you would NEVER sleep anywhere as an infant except in my arms and how you wouldn’t take off some kind of hat for 2 years straight and how we would obsessively read books about sharks together( and you still remember the 7 deadliest sharks).’

The proud mom concluded by sharing, ‘I look at you today from across a room and wonder how I got so blessed. You are kind, thoughtful, mature and beautiful inside and out. I love you bruh.’

The cover photo, which appears to be more recent, shows her Michael enjoying the perks of flying first-class with a big beaming smile on his face.

From there, the pictures seem to go in chronological order, starting with a shot of Durham with her boy when he was just months-long in 2006.

He can be seen as he gets older, alongside his brother, sisters and his father, all the way through until the last image of Michael in recent times, including one of him shirtless while staring out at the ocean.

Michael was born five years into the actor’s romance with Durham, 45, whom he met at a press junket in New York City in 2001.

Daughters Ella, 20, Grace, 14, and son Brandon, 15, would follow by the time they decided to make their union legal and get married on August 2009, at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, near where they lived.

Rhea also used Instagram to pay tribute to the teen, who she described as ‘kind, thoughtful, mature and beautiful inside and out’ 

She included a slideshow of some of her favorite photos of Michael from when he was a baby until now. his 18 years

’18‼️ I truly cannot believe that you are 18 my buddy. This a tough one,’ the model began in her caption 

Even Michael’s sister Ella, who’s now 20, is featured in one of Rhea’s throwback snaps

Rhea provided fans with plenty of ‘then and nows’ of the eldest Wahlberg son

The last of the birthday post shows Michael, in recent times, shirtless while staring into the vast ocean

Wahlberg would also take a walk down memory lane and share a photo of himself as a youngster alongside two of his brothers on Instagram. 

‘Little throw back ❤️ me Donnie and Bobbo @wahlburgers, @wahlburgers,’ the Massachusetts native wrote in the caption.

The former Marky Mark rapper is seen on the left sometime in the late 1970s.

In all, The Fighter star has eight siblings, who all grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts area, that includes sisters Debbie, Michelle, and Tracy, as well as brothers Arthur, Paul, and Jim, to go along with Robert and Donnie.

Just this past week, Wahlberg’s new adventure film Arthur The King hit theaters. It’s based on the non-fiction book Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home (2016).

It follows a group of climbers who venture into the mountains to compete, while coming face to face with a stray dog who becomes attached to the head of the team. 

Mark and Rhea first met at a press junket in 2001 in New York City, and started dating the very next day, ultimately leading to their nuptials in 2009

The Proud dad also shared a throwback snap of himself and two of his brothers, Donnie and Robert, which appears to have been taken in the late 1970s

The busy star is also playing the lead role in the upcoming action comedy-thriller The Union with Halle Berry that’s set to drop August 16. 

The story follows a construction worker who’s roped into the espionage world by his former high school girlfriend. 

Wahlberg’s also finished shooting the thriller film Flight Risk, which was directed by Mel Gibson, who worked from a screenplay by Jared Rosenberg.

The official premiere date is still pending for his most recent feature movie.