Laura Dern’s daughter, Jaya, is entering adulthood!
The “Big Little Lies” alum celebrated her daughter’s 18th birthday with a touching Instagram tribute Monday.
“My girl is 18 today!!!” the actress, 55, captioned throwback photos. “Happiest birthday, Jaya!
“You teach me every day about what it means to be an honest and profound empath, artist, and activist,” Dern continued. “I love you with everything.”
The Golden Globe winner showed off the birthday girl’s epic cake in the social media upload, which featured purple flowers, metallic candles and rainbow sprinkles.
The actress gave a glimpse of the teenager’s birthday celebration.lauradern/InstagramDern’s celeb pals sent Jaya their well-wishes, including “Still Alice” star Julianne Moore and “Vampire Diaries” alum Phoebe Tonkin.
On the teenager’s own account, she marked her milestone moment with an old photo of herself at the beach. She captioned the picture with a cake emoji.
She went on to share adorable throwbacks.lauradern/InstagramDern welcomed Jaya with her ex-husband, Ben Harper, in 2004, three years after giving birth to son Ellery.
Raising her two children has been “overwhelming and not easy or always fun,” the Oscar winner told Modern Luxury in September 2019.
“You teach me every day,” the actress wrote of her daughter. lauradern/Instagram“On the hard days, it’s stressful and there is too much going on as a single parent — and it can be hard to carve out a minute for yourself,” Dern, who finalized her divorce from Harper in 2013, told the magazine.
“I have never had anybody else bully me in my single parenting life,” the “Jurassic Park” star continued. “I am lucky to have champions around me, but I can definitely do it myself.”
Dern shares Jaya with ex-husband Ben Harper.lauradern/InstagramThree months prior, Dern explained how she learned to love Ellery and Jaya more “fully” with every parenting “mistake” she makes.
“I can let them know I really screw up sometimes,” she said in a May 2019 InStyle interview. “I hide from blame in a lot of areas in my life, but I’m trying not to do that as a mom.”
While the Emmy winner has kept her dating life under wraps since separating from Harper, 53, in 2010, the musician married Jaclyn Matfus in January 2015 and went on to welcome now-5-year-old son Besso.
Harper is also the father of son Charles and daughter Harris from a previous marriage.
