Everything Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik Have Said About Parenthood
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No matter the state of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik's relationship, the two remain committed and loving parents to their daughter Khai.
Although supermodel Hadid and singer-songwriter Malik have officially announced their split, the couple remain focused on what's best for 13-month-old baby daughter, Khai, who was born in Sept. 2020.
"They are not together right now. They are both good parents though," a Hadid family friend exclusively tells PEOPLE. "They co-parent."
A Malik source agrees with that sentiment: "Zayn's an amazing dad, and Gigi has said so ... They are actively and amicably working to find the best way to co-parent now."
Gigi Hadid Instagram Gigi Hadid and daughter Khai
The couple may no longer be together, but they've both been vocal about their shared love for Khai, whom Gigi called "the Valentine we get to share forever." Here are more of the sweetest things the model and musician have said about their daughter:
Gigi says the "simple things" are the best things.
Hadid has had a lot to say about the joys of new motherhood. "The highlight is, I would say, the most simple things," she told Access Hollywood. "Just seeing her learn something new every day, even if it's like picking up a cup or putting a ball in a hole. You just think they're the best, most genius thing that's ever been born."
Zayn had an easy time adjusting to fatherhood.
During an interview with iHeartRadio's Valentine in the Morning, the singer said he was surprised to find he had a relatively easy time adjusting to being a father after his daughter was born, because until she arrived he had lived a life primarily focused on himself.
"The fact that [Khai] has been so easy to kind of just adjust to has been surprising to me," he said. "I just love spending my days with her, hanging out with her, just doing really relaxing chill stuff."
Bella Hadid/Instagram
Gigi is inspired by her baby.
On her first Mother's Day as a new mom, Gigi captioned a series of photos on her Instagram with a tribute to Khai: "The rumors are true: my best friend, purpose, muse, greatest pride & joy! I feel so lucky and inspired bein your mama, my Khai !! An old soul full of sunshine, you light up everyone's days! Thank you 🧡 thank you 💛 thank you 💕."
Zayn enjoys every aspect (even changing diapers!)
Diaper duty? No big deal! "She kind of made it easy for us, she sleeps really well, she loves her milk. It's just feeding and changing diapers at the moment. It's wicked. I'm enjoying it, for sure," he said in an iHeartRadio interview.
Gigi's girl changed her world.
Gigi introduced the world to Khai with a black-and-white photo portraying her daughter's hand wrapped around Zayn's finger and the caption "Our girl joined us earth-side this weekend and she's already changed our world. So in love🥺💕."
Need more proof that Khai changed everything for Gigi? Even her silliest bodily functions are magic: "She burps sunshine," the model captioned a photo.
Yolanda Hadid/Instagram Gigi Hadid and daughter Khai
Zayn will do anything to see Khai smile.
Gigi posted a sentimental tribute to Zayn on his first-ever Father's Day, crediting him for being his daughter's number-one entertainer.
She wrote: "Our Khai is so lucky to have a baba who loves her so much & does anything to see her smile," she wrote alongside a sweet father-daughter snap. "Happy first Father's Day .. I'm so grateful for all the lil bits of her that are you ☺️ We love you so much."
Gigi had concerns about motherhood at first.
In the beginning, the model had worries about her abilities to be a mother, and questioned if she was good enough. She told Harper's BAZAAR she experienced "anxieties and days where I felt like, 'Am I good enough to be a mom?'"
During those uncertain times, Gigi turned to journaling as a coping mechanism to combat those thoughts. She had a journal for the "good" and one for the "bad" times during pregnancy.
"I didn't want to feel guilty about feeling those things or writing those things down. I just liked the separation," she shared. "I also have sketch pads where I'll watercolor-sketch, and sometimes I end up writing there too. I write on the back of receipts and keep those in a notebook."
And when she did go back to her job as a model after four months, she acknowledged the hard work she was also doing at home: "Being a mom is a job like no other."
Gigi loves making magic with her little one.
The model was happy to start holiday traditions with her newborn, who earned it because she's "da bestie."
"A whole new kind of busy & tired 😅❤️ but she's da bestie so she got Christmas decorations early 🥰🥰🎁," she wrote on Instagram.
Zayn said being a parent is a "different pace of life."
Zayn puts his music skills to work keeping Khai entertained. He told iHeartRadio: "Just watching kid shows on TV, on Netflix, learning nursery rhymes, just rolling around with her and just singing to her. It's a really different pace of life, but it's been really easy to adjust to it, for sure. I think that's the most surprising thing."
When Khai was first born, Zayn had a hard time putting into words how he felt about the whole experience. His Instagram post introducing her read: "Our baby girl is here, healthy and beautiful🙏🏽❤️ to try put into words how i am feeling right now would be an impossible task. The love I feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding. Grateful to know her, proud to call her mine, and thankful for the life we will have together x."
