Janet Jackson calls son Eissa 'the greatest gift' on his 3rd birthday

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Janet Jackson is celebrating her son's third birthday.

The 53-year-old singer sent love to Eissa, her son with ex-husband Wissam Al Mana, in an Instagram post Friday on the toddler's birthday.

"3 yrs ago today God blessed me, at the age of 50, with the greatest gift of all. My baby!" she wrote. "Happy Bday sweetheart. Mama loves you more than anything else in this world!"

Singer Ciara, fashion designer Alexander Wang and DJ Aktive sent well wishes to Eissa in the comments.

"HBD Eissa!" Ciara wrote, adding a heart emoji.

Jackson gave birth to Eissa in January 2017 and split from Al Mana that April. She said in the October 2018 issue of InStyle that she hopes to impart lessons from her own upbringing to her son.

"The foundation of being grounded and also of a higher power," Jackson said. "Knowing who he is and that we are all equal no matter the race or gender. And that he is to be respectful towards others but also that others are respectful to him."

Jackson said becoming a mom at age 50 has given her a new feeling of strength and beauty.

"I feel like I'm being corny here, but it's just the honest truth: I feel most beautiful when I'm with my son, because of the gift that God has given me and that he allowed me to do so at that age," the star said.

"My baby is so sweet and so healthy, so happy and so full of love," she added.

Jackson previously told Billboard that Eissa has shown her a "deeper" love that she thought possible.

"Love it limitless," she said. "And for someone like me, raised in show business where self-concern is always a priority, how fortunate am I now to be concerned, first and foremost, with the welfare of someone else."

Jackson concluded her Metamorphosis residency show at Park Theater at Park MGM in Las Vegas in May. In December, she attended the Fashion Awards in London, where she presented Rihanna with the Urban Luxe Award.