Barron Trump has pretty much vanished from the public eye these days. Now 19 and a sophomore at NYU Stern (he quietly transferred to the D.C. campus so he could live at the White House again), the youngest Trump son is rarely photographed anymore. When he does appear, he’s usually towering over everyone, looking confident, even flashing the occasional wave or grin. But scroll back a few years, and the pictures tell a very different story.

Body-language expert Bruce Durham recently looked at some throwback family shots from Barron’s early teens—the ones where he’s walking across the White House lawn with his parents or standing awkwardly on the Truman Balcony. What jumped out to him wasn’t anything dramatic; it was something small and painfully relatable.

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In almost every photo, little Barron is staring straight down at the ground.

“It’s actually quite sad and sweet,” Durham told the Express. “He’s looking at the floor in both pictures, shoulders a little rounded, like a kid who just wants the moment to be over.”

He went on to describe the overall vibe as Barron looking like “a helpless puppy” being tugged along—especially when you notice Donald’s hand firmly placed on Melania’s back, steering her forward while Barron trails half a step behind, eyes glued to his shoes.

Of course, being the president’s kid can’t have been easy. Cameras in your face 24/7, Secret Service everywhere you turn, and a dad whose attention is… let’s say, selective. Melania has always been fiercely protective (she famously kept Barron out of the spotlight as much as she could, even making sure he had a whole floor to himself in Trump Tower and refusing to put him in a dorm last year).

A source close to the family told People that even now, Melania still tracks Barron’s every move. “She’s constantly worried someone will bully him or take advantage of him,” the insider said. “She always knows exactly where he is and what he’s doing.”

Maybe that’s why the change in Barron feels so striking. The shy kid staring at the carpet has turned into a six-foot-nine young man who looks comfortable in his own skin. Whatever Melania’s doing, it seems to be working.

Still, those old photos hit differently, don’t they? Sometimes it’s the tiniest things—like where a child chooses to look—that say the most.