Gayle King has revealed that her daughter Kirby Bumpus has welcomed her first child — a baby boy named Luca Lynn Miller — with her husband Virgil Miller.
The CBS This Morning co-anchor, 66, happily announced that she is officially a grandmother on Monday’s broadcast, saying Bumpus, 35, gave birth in California last week.
‘… I wanted to be a grandmother for a long time, and it’s really something when you see your own child become a parent. I am so nuts about him. And then I was holding him, Kirby goes, “You know, you have to support his neck.” Uh, okay! I actually know how to do this!’
First-time grandmother! Gayle King, 66, revealed on Monday’s broadcast of CBS This Morning that her daughter, Kirby Bumpus, has given birth to her first child
Family of three: Bumpus, 35, and her husband Virgil Miller welcomed their baby boy, Luca Miller, last week
King, who also has a son, William Bumpus Jr., couldn’t help but gush about her family’s new addition. She proudly shared a photo of the newborn, though she didn’t show his face.
She explained that Luca’s middle name is Lynn after Virgil’s brother, who passed away earlier this year, saying the baby boy’s ‘initials are LLM so we call him LL Mill, LL Cool Mill.’
‘He’s very, very cute, so congratulations to my favorite daughter, my favorite son-in-law,’ the journalist added. ‘Now I have a favorite grandson! I’m over the moon.’
King recently celebrated Kirby’s pregnancy with a beachside baby shower in California, where the mom-to-be was gifted a $500 stroller from her godmother Oprah Winfrey.
She went all out when planning her only daughter’s ‘dream’ shower that was both memorable and COVID safe.
In late July, King invited 16 close family members and friends — all of whom were vaccinated and had tested negative for COVID-19 — to celebrate Bumpus during a three-day getaway at the Montage Laguna Beach resort.
All smiles: King, who threw her daughter a lavish baby shower in Laguna Beach, California, in late July, said she flew to the West Coast last Friday to meet her grandson for the first time
Proud: King explained she has ‘wanted to be a grandmother for a long time’ and is ‘over the moon’ with her family’s new addition, adding that her grandson is ‘very cute’
‘It turned into something that was bigger than a baby shower. Kirby was at the core of the celebration — no doubt about that — but it became a celebration of friendship, a celebration of women, and a celebration of coming together after things have been so hard for so many people,’ King told Oprah Daily.
‘To be honest with you, I didn’t know it was going to be that. I knew it would be pretty and nice, but I think it grew into something much more significant than that.’
Bumpus and Miller had a small, socially distanced wedding ceremony at Winfrey’s home in Santa Barbara, California, in December, and she initially thought her shower would likely have to be virtual because of the pandemic.
However, once the COVID-19 became widely available and she was able to get the shot, her mom knew that she wanted to do something special to make up for the other milestone events she had missed out on.
‘When Kirby got married in December, she didn’t have the wedding that she’d planned. We were still in the process of figuring out exactly what that would be, but we knew, whatever it was, it’d be more than six people,’ King explained.
Shower: King invited 16 close family members and friends to Bumpus’s shower at the Montage Laguna Beach resort. All of the guests were vaccinated and had tested negative for COVID-19
Blessed: Bumpus received plenty of thoughtful gifts, including a $500 BabyZen YOYO² stroller from Oprah Winfrey
‘That turned out to be perfect, but she didn’t have a bridal shower or any of those events, so I really wanted her baby shower to be more than just a Zoom thing.
‘Not to mention that part of the fun of being pregnant is seeing your friends react to your baby bump, watching them ooh and aah and letting them touch it,’ the grandmother-to-be added.
King, who teamed up with Bumpus’s best friend, Erica, for the shower, initially thought they could plan the event themselves, but that idea went out the window after she was asked a question about the gift bags.
The journalist turned to Details Details owner Jeannie Young, who suggested they used shades of blue as a starting point for the shower’s decor in honor of Bumpus having a baby boy.
‘It was the first moment to celebrate a lot of things that happened in the last two years — and Mom definitely went all out and outdid herself,’ Bumpus said. ‘The thing I keep saying is that I can’t even call this the shower of my dreams because I didn’t even dream something like that for myself.’
Like family: Not only is Winfrey King’s best friend, but she is also Bumpus’s godmother
Sleek: Winfrey chose BabyZen YOYO²’s white frame stroller with a peppermint color pack and matching parasol
The expectant mom received plenty of thoughtful gifts, including a BabyZen YOYO² stroller from Winfrey, who selected the white frame design with a peppermint color pack and matching parasol.
Bumpus also received a quilt made by her aunt Sharon, cute baby clothes, and a number of children’s books to grow her son’s library.
Heartwarming photos from the shower show Bumpus cradling her baby bump and posing with her mom while wearing an off-the-shoulder blue dress in honor of her impending arrival.
‘I’m very excited about a boy,’ she said. ‘For starters, I think my husband Virgil would be a great dad to a boy or girl, so I just can’t wait to see him become a dad.
‘And selfishly, I’m grateful that I don’t have to figure out how to do a little girl’s hair just yet, because I’m not sure I’m ready for that.’
Making it up: King said she wanted her daughter’s baby shower ‘to be more than just a Zoom thing’ because the pandemic prevented her from having a bridal shower
Aww: ‘I’ve wanted to be a mom for so long and having a mom like mine has given me such an incredible template for what a mom can be,’ Bumpus said at the time
King added that she was just as excited to welcome another boy into the family.
‘I would have been thrilled either way, but I was so excited when I found out it was a boy because, as the oldest of four girls, I always wanted a big brother for myself,’ she explained. ‘To see your own baby have a baby — it still blows my mind that this is actually happening.’
In the weeks before she gave birth, the expectant mom and her husband were installed their baby’s car seat and had their final session with their doula.
‘Knowing how the whole birth experience is different and riskier for Black women, we felt it was essential to go into the delivery room fully informed and with someone who would really be an advocate for us,’ Bumpus said.
‘Once we’ve done that, I think we might actually be ready — or as ready as we can be. We know there’s a million things that we don’t know and a million things that we need to learn, but out of all the jobs I’ve ever sought out, this is the one that I know for sure I really want,’ she added.
‘I’ve wanted to be a mom for so long and having a mom like mine has given me such an incredible template for what a mom can be. I love our relationship, and I get so excited thinking about what that relationship will look like with my son as he’s a baby, as he’s a child, and so on.’