JJ Watt’s New Photo Shows Son Koa in a Pure State of Wonder & Followers Agree It’s Priceless

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If your Instagram feed looks anything like ours, it’s total Christmas overload. There are floods of families in matching pajamas. And videos of kids playing with their new toys. (Or, in the case of Thomas Rhett, a hilarious video of adults playing with the kids’ new toys.) At some point, it all mashes together as you scroll through the never-ending red and green vortex.

But one photo stopped our thumb dead in its [scrolling] track.

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It’s a photo that JJ Watt and his wife Kealia shared of their 1-year-old son Koa, and it just might be the most perfect picture of the season. In it, little Koa — who is wearing festive plaid jammies — stares straight up at his Christmas tree. His head is tilted all the way back so he can take in as much of the pine as possible.

And the pure look of wonder on his face is everything. The tree isn’t terribly wide, and there don’t seem to be any ornaments on it, but the glow from the white Christmas tree lights is enough to show Koa’s wide eyes and rosy cheeks. He looks absolutely entranced, and honestly, we probably have the same expression on our faces when we look at this photo.

How could we possibly turn our eyes away from the palpable awe?!

Watt captioned the post simply with the Christmas tree emoji and his brother TJ commented with a red heart emoji. But followers had a lot to say.

“What a pic 😍”

“This is priceless! You will treasure this photo. Reminds us to look through a child’s eyes once in awhile to really see around us.”

“That look of wonderment says it all.”

“That is the most precious picture..thank you sharing it.”

Earlier this month, Koa joined his dad — a retired NFL player — in what looked to be their home gym. The former defensive end posted the cutest video of his little tike ambling over to get “KoKo’s weights” (teeny tiny thingies!) over by the dumbbell rack.

“You do squats?” Watt asked his son. “Down, up. Down, up.” Koa followed his dad’s instructions and had the biggest grin on his face.

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 01:  Former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and son Koa James walk past the sidelines during the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans on October 1, 2023 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.  (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
J.J. Watt and son Koa Watt (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Koa then made his way over to the 45-lb weight plates. It looks like he might want to follow in his dad’s and uncles’ footsteps and become a professional athlete. The little guy got to see his uncles TJ and Derek on the sidelines before a football game in October and the interaction — with Uncle TJ jokingly reaching for his laughing nephew and JJ pulling him away — was too stinkin’ cute.

Koa went to his first NFL game this time last year. He was just 2 months old, and his dad was preparing to retire. “Koa’s first-ever NFL game. My last ever NFL home game. My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It’s been an honor and a pleasure. 🙏🏼,” Watt captioned the post.

Before you go, check out these celebrity kiddos who love cheering on their NFL dads.

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