She’s a model mom! Vanessa Morgan welcomed her son, River, with Michael Kopech in January 2021 and has been sharing pictures of him ever since.

“The most challenging, beautiful experience of my life. On January 29th, Michael & I welcomed our beautiful baby boy, River, into the world,” the Riverdale star shared via Instagram in February 2021, while sharing the first photo of her newborn. “Words cannot describe this kind of love. We are enjoying this time home with him, being present & giving him all the lovin’ in the world. Becoming parents is the most rewarding gift in the entire world.”

After returning to work on the Riverdale set, Vanessa also started to snap pics of her costars and River. Before she left the show for a brief maternity leave, the stars praised the first-time mom for her commitment to work as showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa wrote her pregnancy into the series.

“I talked to Vanessa, and I was like, ‘When you come back, how much do you want to come back?’” the executive producer told Decider in August 2021, referring to the actress’ new role as a full-time mom. “And Vanessa was like, ‘I’m so in.’ We see Toni as a mother, we see Toni as a leader of the Serpents, we see badass Toni come back, we see Toni fighting for the town alongside Archie. We see Toni having a deepening relationship with Fangs. And yes, we do bring Toni and Cheryl back in each other’s orbits, but in a way in which they complement each other, rather than diffusing their impact.”

Of course, since Vanessa’s character, Toni, also had a baby in the show, a newborn will be making an appearance onscreen. But no, it’s not River.

“It is not Vanessa’s real baby. In some scenes, it is a baby, a real live baby. In other scenes, it is a very lifelike doll,” Roberto also told Decider. “But no, it is not. … She’s, rightfully so, protective of her child.”

During an exclusive interview with J-14, Vanessa gushed about motherhood and dished on River’s personalty.

“He’s just so funny. He’s like a little comedian. It’s really funny, he likes pointing out now,” she shares. “Now that he knows my name is Mama to him, he just loves telling everybody, ‘That’s my Mama.’ I find it hilarious. He only started doing that a week ago and it just cracks me up. He just loves telling people that’s his mom. He just says, ‘Wow,’ at everything. And that’s also so incredible to me, he’ll look at a wrapping paper and be like, ‘Wow.’ He just always puts a smile on my face.”

Scroll through our gallery for all the photos of Vanessa and River. 

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