Keke Palmer. Taylor Hill/WireImage
Keke Palmer couldn’t be more excited to start creating new holiday traditions with 9-month-old son Leo.
“I love the idea of doing ornaments for every year of [Leo’s] first, second, third, fifth, whatever Christmases,” Palmer, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with HelloFresh. “But then also the idea that it’s something that can be a namesake within our family. That’s something I’m excited for.”
Palmer shared that she first got the idea from a friend who gave her a few custom ornaments with Leo’s face printed on them.
“Maybe it can even become a tradition … each year, that you do a new custom one to mark his age and his growth and that it’s something that he can also pass down and do with his children,” she continued. “I think that that’s actually a tradition that we’ll probably continue.”
Keke Palmer Through the Years: Nickelodeon Alum to Motherhood
Throughout her career, Keke Palmer has proven that the sky’s the limit — and she’s only getting started. Palmer began singing in the church choir at age 5 and after moving to Los Angeles she quickly found success with acting. She rose to fame after starring on her own Nickelodeon series, True Jackson, VP, from […]
Palmer welcomed Leo with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson in February after two years of dating. The pair have since called it quits. Palmer was granted a temporary restraining order against Jackson, 29, last month after she claimed he physically abused her “multiple times” throughout their relationship and filed for full custody of their son.
Now, Palmer is putting her focus on celebrating Leo’s major milestones as he continues to grow. “He’s been rocking back and forth, so that’s a really cool thing,” she told Us. “And he’s been kind of — not crawling, crawling, but sliding. So it’s like he’s just about to crawl. He also has a budding tooth at the bottom that’s getting ready to come. So I’m very excited about that.”
Palmer has been documenting her motherhood journey since announcing her pregnancy in December 2022. She has since been candid about the ups and downs of parenting, from finding a healthy work-life balance to shutting down critics who judge her for breast-feeding in public.
“I think I carry a lot of shame sometimes when I’m in public spaces,” she shared during a September episode of her “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast. “I don’t want to make other people uncomfortable and I’ve had to really kind of come around to, like, not worrying about that.”
Being authentic about her lived experience is something Palmer is known for, whether she’s detailing her struggle with acne, slamming unrealistic body standards or opening up about her sexuality. Palmer strives to be as relatable as possible so she can inspire others to believe “success is approachable,” she told Us.
“It’s always like, in order to be successful, there’s this idea that it’s only for heartless people,” she explained. “And I think for me, it’s like, ‘No, success is for you. Success is out there for you as somebody that’s following their dreams and that’s believing themselves and that’s persistent.’”
Palmer noted that she wants others to see that everything she’s accomplished is “accessible” for them, too. “Because when people don’t feel relatable to you, then it becomes that harder, I think, for them to reach their own personal goals,” she said. “So if I’m not doing my part in making sure that they can relate to me or that they feel connected to me, so that they can feel more inspired to accomplish their goals, then I don’t think I’m really doing my job.”
Celebrities Share Their Favorite Holiday Traditions
Christmas pajamas, baking sweet treats and decorating trees with family … oh my! There is no right — or wrong — way to get into the holiday spirit, and many celebrities have shared their favorite traditions during the special season. Wells Adams and Sarah Hyland spent their first Christmas together as an engaged couple in […]
From nabbing a 2023 Daytime Emmy nomination for her show Password with Jimmy Fallon, to her new song, “Serious,” dropping last month along with her holiday single, “Christmas Kisses,” there’s not much Palmer can’t do. She’s a quadruple threat and a mom who is always on the go, which is exactly why she teamed up with HelloFresh.
“With the kind of schedule that I have, it’s always good to be able to know that you can just have easy meals ready,” she said. “So when I got tapped for this amazing partnership, I was really excited because it’s a way to eat healthy, but also to make it fun and keep it exciting.”
Palmer added that now is the “best time” to sign up for HelloFresh, as customers can get free breakfast included with every order for life. “[It’s] just the perfect partnership, honestly,” she said.
