Gwyneth Paltrow Shares Rare Photo of Daughter Apple Martin to Celebrate ‘Sweet’ 16th Birthday

Gwyneth Paltrow shared a rare photo of daughter Apple Martin on Instagram Thursday to celebrate her 16th birthday. Apple is the eldest of Paltrow’s two children with ex-husband and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The two are also parents to Moses, 14, and they rarely share photos of the children to protect their privacy. However, Apple’s birthday was an occasion Paltrow could not resist celebrating publicly.

Paltrow, 47, shared a trio of photos of Apple sitting on her couch at home. She included a long tribute to her daughter, calling her “the light of my heart” and “pure joy.” “You are wickedly intelligent and you have the best, most dry, most brilliant sense of humor,” the Avengers: Endgame actress wrote. “I have the best time being your mom. I love our nightly evening chats when I really get to hear what’s on your mind. You work hard to get whatever it is you want to achieve, and you have grit and responsibility in spades.”

“I am so damn lucky to be your mother, you beautiful, kind young woman,” Paltrow continued. “Thank you for choosing me. I adore you to the moon and back a zillion times. I’m sorry you are having this particular birthday during these circumstances, but as always with you, you find the best in everything.” Paltrow added a heart with ribbon emoji at the end.

Paltrow rarely shared photos of her private life on Instagram, usually devoting her page to Goop projects. However, she has shared a handful of posts with her children recently. On April 7, she shared a selfie from her kitchen, with Apple and Moses on either side. She also shared a birthday tribute to Moses on April 8 when he turned 14. “He is the kindest little man and he has the most unique way of looking at the world and expressing himself,” she wrote in part. “Mosey, I could not be more proud of you in every way. You conquer all you set out to do, you never quit, you are immensely talented and a great friend.”

When Apple was born in May 2004, Paltrow and Martin became the target of jokes because of the unique name. Other celebrities have come up with even more odd names since then, including Elon Musk and singer Grimes, who named their child X Æ A-12 Musk. “[Chris Martin], I think we got beat for most controversial baby name,” Paltrow wrote on an Instagram post about the strange name.

During a 2004 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Paltrow said Martin came up with the name and she thought it sounded lovely. “It sounded so sweet, and it conjured such a lovely picture for me, you know?” Paltrow explained at the time. “Apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical and I just thought it sounded so lovely. Then she was born and it became like an international outrage, which I found surprising because there are people named Rose or Lily or Ivy or June or, you know, lots of pretty nouns.”