Hollywood power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds aren’t only known for their impressive career resume but also as the cool parents of their four kids: James, Inez, Betty, and the still-unknown baby number four.
While they prefer to actively keep their kids from the showbiz limelight as well as on social media, Lively and Reynolds haven’t shied away from sharing their moments with them and their quirks. Their relatable tweets – especially the ones Reynolds posts – about their little ones always get some big laughs, just like this one:
As one user replied, he definitely nailed ‘top dad tips.’ And even in interviews, the “Deadpool” actor loves to joke about them. Reynolds said during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, “I’m a parent of three girls. They’re wild. I think they have rabies sometimes.”
All jokes aside, Reynolds has totally embraced the girl dad life. Talking with Access, he shared that coming from a family of all boys with three older brothers, having his daughters was something he didn’t really imagine in a million years. He definitely enjoys every second of his ride with them.
As for Lively, she told Forbes that having their kids had made her feel more herself and more at ease and confident with her body. And though, admittedly, she still constantly battles with insecurities, she feels incredibly settled.
Now, let’s meet these bundles of joy one by one.
James, 2014
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“Gorgeous.” Yes, James Reynolds, the eldest of the growing Lively-Reynolds squad, is behind the adorable intro in Taylor Swift’s track “Gorgeous.” The artist herself credited the then-two-year-old on her Reputation album booklet.
In Lively’s appearance on Good Morning America, she admitted that she and her husband were all-out stage parents when they attended Swift’s concert and heard their baby’s voice aloud. She shared that she started jumping up and down while filming the whole moment on their phone while her husband threw his hands up in the air. She said, “We were very embarrassing. This is the true, unfiltered version of our terrible stage-parent pride.”
The funny part in all of this was that James wasn’t aware at that point that her Aunt Taylor was a famous pop star. Though after going to a concert of hers once, according to Reynolds, she (and her siblings) quickly realized that her music is not just a hobby. It’s a religion.
The couple welcomed James on December 16, 2014, and was named after Reynolds’ late father. The actor said it felt right and was happy that his father could see her before he passed away.
As for her name being talked about as an unusual choice for a girl, Reynolds disagrees. He said that in the spectrum of weird celebrity baby names, James wasn’t groundbreaking. The actor even jokingly added, “I didn’t call her Summer Squash Meadowlark.”
Inez, 2016
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“Oh, this one’s shady.” That’s what Ryan Reynolds said their pediatrician said when she met Inez in a video that went viral. And it looks like she is living up to the reputation.
Inez was born on September 30, 2016, in New York. And at a very young age, she has grown to like villains, while the rest loves heroes. In an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, they watched “Beauty and the Beast,” and her favorite character was Gaston.
She was also the first and only one (so far) in the family to get a secondary security pat at the airport. The Deadpool actor said that other people could probably sense her dark side too.
However, the chaotic and dark personality may not just be an Inez thing. In an interview with Lively on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Gossip Girl star revealed that James had a wild streak when she was one. She said that James had been playing with ‘explosive devices’ that she didn’t know where she found and stuck them in their dog’s ears.
It’s safe to say that the couple definitely had their hands full with the two.
Now that Inez is growing up, she has become quite the fashionista, just like her mama. In 2021, Lively shared a video of her picking out a whole outfit for her. She came up with a hot pink sweatshirt with a smiley face in rhinestones paired with a floral skirt and black pumps with fancy pink heels.
Betty, 2019
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James had a Taylor Swift intro, and Betty had a song title. Yes, that “betty” from folklore. (Trivia Tidbit: Her siblings were also referenced in the lyrics: “You heard the rumors from Inez / You can’t believe a word she says” and “She said, ‘James, get in, let’s drive.'”)
Betty arrived on October 4, 2019, and was named after Lively’s family moniker. According to the actress, her father’s name was Ernest Brown Jr., but he lived his life as Ernie Lively.
So, any of his successful ventures didn’t feel entirely his. When she built her company, a non-alcohol sparkling mixer, she named it after a name that was meaningful to her father. That was Betty, the name of his mother and his sister.
James easily fell in love with her sister, but Inez wasn’t too thrilled. Lively shared with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that there was definitely a tough adjustment around the house during the early phase, but things eventually worked out.
The couple has kept Betty almost a secret from the public. They didn’t announce her birth or her name, and in her appearances in photos, her face was always edited. It wasn’t until she got older that the public saw her face. Additionally, it wasn’t until Taylor Swift confirmed her name that everyone knew about it.
Baby Number Four, 2023
While Reynolds loves all of his girls, a source said that he secretly wants to even out the playing field and have a son. We’re unsure if his wish had been granted with the arrival of baby number four, but all seems well.
The couple announced the new addition to their growing pack in September 2022 at the 10th annual Forbes Power Women’s Summit red carpet. Lively only posted a few intentional snaps of her baby bump, including one that was posted to get the paparazzi off her back.
Then in February 2023, they subtly shared that the bun had finally popped out of the oven. Lively no longer had her bump, and the caption said, “Puppy Bowl Sunday 2023???? ???? ???? been busy.”
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are very cool parents, but they’re not letting their kids enter the showbiz industry – at least not until they’re older. Their main goal, for now, is to let them experience as many things as they can as kids and then let them decide whatever the hell they want to do once they’ve grown up.
