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Most parents know that the days are long, but the years are short when it comes to kids. And yes, celebrity parents know that too. Especially, apparently, Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert. She posted on Instagram about the bittersweet feeling of watching her baby grow up and move through each phase and how, even though she’s happy to watch her grow, it breaks her heart a little.
As someone who sobs every time I watch old videos of my almost teenage son, I get it. Boy, do I get it. You mourn the last stage while also appreciating the current stage and trying not to think about the next stage ahead. Hayley and Derek welcomed their daughter in December 2025 and just a few months later, she had already grown so much that Hayley felt the tug on her Mama heart. It’s a whole thing.
Hayley Erbert is every mom mourning every baby stage.
Hayley posted a few photos of hers and Derek’s baby, though they always make a point of shielding most of their daughter’s face on social media. In the caption of the Instagram post, Hayley admitted to her feelings of her heart breaking and how “complex” motherhood is as the mom of a baby.
“It feels like living in two places at once,” she wrote. “Where joy and heartache can both be true, all of the time. My heart is constantly bursting open, while also breaking into a million pieces. I find myself celebrating every little bit of your growth, while quietly grieving the version of you that existed just moments before.”
She added that wanting to freeze time to avoid any “lasts” while also enjoying every “first” that comes alone is “the most beautiful contradiction.” It’s what plenty of moms go through, even as their kids graduate from the baby stage to toddlerhood, and beyond. For most of us, it’s one of the hardest things about motherhood. Well, that and weaning off the pacifier, but you know. It’s all about perspective.
Other moms can relate to her “mourning” of her baby.
Some moms, both celebrity and not, commented on the post to agree with Hayley.
One mom commented, “My favourite age is always the current one. Enjoy the present and remember the other version with fondness but don’t get hung up on them.”
Another wrote, “Your caption perfectly describes how I feel right now. It’s the best watching them grow, but oh so bittersweet.”
And this isn’t the first time Derek and Hayley have shared their feelings about parenting and about how quickly they’ve seen the changes come. Shortly after their daughter was born, they spoke with People about how quickly she had already changed and grown.
At the time, Derek said there were “so many different changes happening” already.
Hayley added, “It actually breaks my heart. I’m also postpartum, hormonal, crazy emotional.”
Hayley Erbert and Derek Hough planned to take their daughter on tour.
Since before Derek and Hayley had their daughter, they planned to make sure she was an integral part of their lives as professional dancers. In November 2025, they told E! News that they planned to bring her with them on the Derek Hough Symphony of Dance: Encore. There were some mixed reactions to that news on Reddit.
Some of the couple’s fans thought it was the best way to have the best of both worlds. Others saw it as pure stress, with a baby on a tour bus.
Someone joked, “We need a Dancing With the Stars daycare.”
Now, it’s just another way for Hayley and Derek to soak up all the baby memories they can.
