If you weren’t feeling old enough, Malia Obama just turned 19

Barack Obama was first elected to office in 1997, so the family’s been in the public eye for a long time. Michelle shared this super cute snap of the family when everyone was a lot younger.

“When I first elected to this office, Malia was just ten and Sasha was seven. And they grow up too fast,” the 54-year-old dad mused during a state dinner. “Now Malia is going off to college… And I’m starting to choke up.”

Obama wasn’t ready for his eldest to move on to college telling Ellen: “I’m going to be wearing dark glasses, sobbing. I’m going to cry.” He added, “I’m not ready for her to leave. She’s one of my best friends. It’s going to be hard for me not to have her around all the time, but she’s ready to go. She’s just a really smart, capable person and she’s ready to make her own way.”

Obama wasn’t the only one known to cry. A picture of Malia gently wiping tears away from her face as she leant lovingly against her mum’s head was everywhere after his farewell address in Chicago.

During his speech, Obama was quick to point out the challenges and inherent scrutiny that his young daughters faced during their eight years growing up in the White House. He said: “Malia and Sasha, under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women, smart and beautiful, but more importantly, kind and thoughtful and full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad.”

No one’s ever too old to steal “just a taste” of their dad’s ice cream.

Photographer Pete Souza said of this photo: “People are always asking me to choose my favorite picture of the President. But I just can’t do it. So let me tell you about my favorite day. It was a Saturday in February 2010. Washington was under siege with snow. I slept in my office overnight, knowing I probably couldn’t drive to the White House the next day. And then I guessed…and yes, hoped…that the President of the United States would be a dad and play with his girls in the snow. And he did.”

Malia’s dancing at Lollapalooza had some people ~with nothing better to do~ criticising her for daring to act like a teenager. She seemed to ignore the comments and good on her – keep on dancing, girl!

The family blew us all away in their final Christmas card in the White House.

Speaking of Christmas, a much younger iteration of the family popped past the 2013 Christmas in Washington gala to put smiles on the faces of some cheeky little elves.

Earlier this year, the Bush girls gave Sasha and Malia advice for life after the White House. “You are about to join another rarefied club, one of former First Children – a position you didn’t seek and one with no guidelines,” they said. “We know it wasn’t always easy – the two of you and the two of us were teenagers trailed by men in backpacks – but they put their lives on hold for us.”