Al Roker has celebrated numerous milestones throughout his career, but this month, he is marking a special personal milestone. The Today show weatherman is officially a first-time grandpa after his daughter, Courtney Roker, welcomed her first child with husband Wesley Laga, with baby girl Sky Clara Laga arriving on Monday, July 3.
Roker shared the exciting family news during Tuesday’s episode of Today, with Roker’s colleagues telling viewers that his family “couldn’t be happier” at the healthy and safe arrival of the adorable new addition. Roker’s Today co-host Sheinelle Jones said, “That’s really cute that his first grandchild’s name is Sky,” with the rest of the Today team not missing the fact that Roker’s first grandchild has a “meteorological” name, possibly a special nod to her grandpa.
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Courtney and Laga first announced they were expecting back in March. At the time, Roker’s daughter shared a video to Instagram debuting her baby bump set to a remix of Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby,” also telling her followers, “A new adventure is about to begin.” That same month, Roker, who is also dad to daughter Leila, 24, and son Nicholas, 20, couldn’t hold back his excitement when discussing his daughter’s pregnancy on Today.
“For this grandchild, I’m going to be the best grandpa ever because I’m going to do whatever I can to spoil this kid and then hand her back,” he told his colleagues, also sharing what he would like his first grandchild to call him. “I think in honor of my dad I’m going to try to go for Pop-Pop.”
Two months later, Roker shared the exciting news that his daughter was expecting a baby girl, sharing with Entertainment Tonight that Courtney texted him “a sonogram picture and I said, ‘That baby looks just like you,’ and she said, ‘Doesn’t she?’ And then you see the bubbles. [She goes] ‘I’m so sorry!’ and I went, ‘You had one [job]!’” Roker said that he hadn’t planned on learning the sex and instead “wanted to be surprised.” Roker shares Courtney with ex-wife Alice Bell, whom he was married to from 1984 to 1994. Courtney and Laga wed on June 4, 2021, at The Ashford Estate in New Jersey after announcing their engagement in April 2020.
