Blake and Ryan are also the parents of daughters Inez and Betty, and son Olin
Happy birthday to James Lively Reynolds! The oldest of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ four kids officially hit the double digits on December 16, turning 10 years old.
While the Hollywood stars are fiercely private when it comes to their children, especially when it comes to being in public spaces with them, as the oldest of their brood, James has enjoyed a bit more of a public life than her younger siblings.
A tribute to her grandfather
Ryan revealed that the couple had named their first child James in honor of his father, James Reynolds, who passed away shortly after her birth.
“It felt right,” he told Mr. Porter, adding that before the senior James had passed, “he got to see her, which makes me happy.” He joked in a later interview with Good Morning Britain that while James was a more masculine name, “I didn’t call her Summer Squash Meadowlark.”
The Walk of Fame
In 2016, a day before her 2nd birthday, James joined her parents at Ryan’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, with her younger sister, the newborn Inez, also in tow, her first ever public appearance.
The toddler stole the show at the event, dressed in blue leggings, a jacket, and a tan shirt with Converse sneakers as she played with her dad beside his star and he sweetly showed off the crowd. While he gave his speech, she adorably sat in her mom’s arms and applauded him.
A Michael J. Fox fan
Earlier this year, the Deadpool & Wolverine star penned a dedication to his friend Michael J. Fox for his selection in the TIME 100, and mentioned that both he and his oldest daughter were huge fans of Back to the Future.
“It’s become her favorite film. And for now, that’s enough for me—and her. One more kid from one more generation sees what I saw,” Ryan wrote. “She still has no idea that I know him. I don’t need to teach my daughter the level of compassion Mike has mastered. Or teach her to tell stories the way Mike tells stories. I need to teach her that it’s OK to fall a lot. It’s the absolute best way to know you’re flying.”
A recording artist at two years old
James’ biggest breakthrough came when she was just two years old, becoming a credited recording artist with none other than her aunt and her parents’ best friend Taylor Swift.
She is featured in the opening to Taylor’s track “Gorgeous” from her 2017 album Reputation, which came about when Taylor played a demo of the track to Blake and Ryan, and James was immediately hooked on the song’s title.
A young Swiftie
In fact, over the past two years alone, James has tagged along with her parents several times to see her aunt in concert during the Eras Tour with her younger siblings, although Ryan shared in a previous interview that the kids weren’t aware at first how famous Taylor really was.
“And then they went to a concert one day and were like, ‘Ohhhhh, this isn’t a hobby,'” he said on The Jess Cagle Show. The star added that since then, listening to her music has become “like a religion in our house.”
