Hard to see progress in myself

Like most, I'm my own worst critic, and after years of on-and-off weightlifting it's been hard to see any real progress. Last summer I was very consistent with my working out, but didn't bother to really count my calories. I've been trying to gain muscle all this time, so I later learned I had just been sabotaging lots of potential gains. Winter I got back into it, this time counting my calories and maintaining a surplus, but then took a break due to college, and this summer I'm very much into it as well and doing very well with my calorie surplus and protein. I have gained weight which is good, but it might largely be due to starting to take creatine a few weeks ago. When I look at old photos and photos today, it's hard for me to see much difference. Does anyone else have the same issue with themselves? The first picture is from January 2016 at 113 lbs. Second picture was yesterday at 122 lbs.