Madonna Posts Loving Tribute to ‘Wild Child’ Rocco on His 16th Birthday

Madonna hasn’t had the easiest time parenting her son Rocco Ritchie over the past year, but she loves his “Rebel Heart.”

Rocco, whose dad is director Guy Ritchie, turned Sweet 16 on Thursday. The singer, 57, shared three precious throwbacks on Instagram to mark the occasion.

The first was from their family trip to Malawi last month. She described her tough guy, who is seen striking a fierce pose with a schoolboy, as a “true warrior with a beautiful heart.”

A second photo was from behind the scenes during one of her tours. Madge, with her guns on display, is holding the little guy (he appears to be about 2), who has on a custom “Rocco” T-shirt. “Once my baby, always my baby,” she captioned it.

The last pic is a mash-up created by a Material Girl fan. One recent image shows Rocco on his skateboard and it is juxtaposed near a photo of toddler Rocco on his tricycle. “Happy birthday, Wild Child,” she wrote along with a message to herself that “Time waits for no one.”

Rocco added some gray to Madonna’s hair over the past year (thank God for colorists!) as a spat between them led to Rocco’s refusing to return home to NYC after visiting his dad in London late last year. A full-blown custody battle between the music icon and her ex-husband was finally resolved in June.

Rocco joined his mom and siblings Lola, David Banda, and Mercy James for a charitable mission in Malawi, where his young sibs were born. Madonna posted a series of pictures from that trip — several with Rocco in them — and it seemed that things were back to normal.

The only thing that does not seem “normal” (though it totally is)? How darn fast this kid seems to be growing up. We remember when he was born like it was yesterday, and now he’s a grown-up “wild child.” Where does the time go?