Gabrielle Union Melts Hearts with First Cover of Baby Kaavia and Reveals Her Working Mom Life

Gabrielle Union’s “shady baby,” Kaavia James, did her magazine cover debut and fans can’t stop gushing about the adorable tot. Union took the chance to open about motherhood and her fertility struggles, encouraging others not to give up on their dreams.

Kaavia James is taking strides in her career as an entertainer, and she’s not even 1-year-old.

"Kaavia has allowed us to dream bigger and wider than we ever have before.”

THE FIRST COVER

Recently, the tot celebrated reaching 500,000 followers in her personal Instagram account, and a few days later, she debuted as a model, gracing the May cover of Parents magazine with her famous mom.

Union unveiled the adorable shot on Instagram last Wednesday, captioning it: “My favorite cover yet. #shadybaby is on magazines stands... world watch out.”

“@kaaviajames is already my kinda girl and is my forever #wcw. She smiles when she sees @dwyanewade and has a loud laugh that sounds like husky-voiced unicorn giggles,” the actress added.

And continued,

“This little girl has brought a light and joy to my life I didn’t even know was possible. Without words, she has challenged me to be a better version of myself, and on the daily has me busting out in fits of laughter. Time to eat up the cuteness on this cover.”

UPDATES ON KAAVIA

The “Being Mary Jane” star took the chance to gush about her girl and give some updates on her developing personality.

“When I ask her a question, Kaavia responds with a lot of animation, and she’ll pause so you can ask her more,” Union explained. “She follows along, but she doesn’t do baby talk. When people talk baby talk, she gives shady-baby looks.”

Kaavia has earned the title of “shady baby” thanks to her serious facial expressions, which, paired with Gabrielle’s hilarious Instagram captions, have fans in stitches every time there’s a new post on the baby’s Instagram account.

For Union, it was important to include her fans in her journey through motherhood after sharing her struggles with fertility for the past years.

“She represents that maybe there is a light at the end. And when you take people on the low points of your journey, it’s cool to let them be part of the joy,” she explained. “Plus, she’s really cute. And has an uncanny ability for making steely eye contact!”

GABBY’S FERTILITY STRUGGLES

It wasn’t a ride in the park for Gabby and her husband, Dwyane Wade when it came to having a baby. He’s already the father of three grown sons from previous relationships and is also raising his nephew.

Being a step-mother created in Union an urgency to have her own children, even if she had to go against her body while trying to make it happen.

“There was a lot of pain, and a lot of disappointment,” said Union, who suffered eight or nine miscarriages and unsuccessful IVF treatments over the last five years. And added,

“I felt like I was not only disappointing myself and my spouse, but all the people who’d hung a lot of hope on us. I felt like a complete loser and failure.”

At some point, Union was close to giving up on her dream of being a mother, but then she and Wade decided to use a gestational surrogate to carry their baby through IVF.

“Watching the person he loves more than anything suffer the physical toll of loss, he was just like, ‘There is another way,’” Union explained of her husband’s way of handling things.

NOT A PERFECT MOM, BUT A BUSY ONE

At 46, Union got rid of the pretense of being a “perfect mom.” She’s embracing her mistakes and learning along the way.

“I’m okay with life not being balanced,” she says. “I’m not hitting it out of the park in every area. There are times I should be studying lines, but I’m playing with my baby, and I’m enjoying it.”

Although Wade is a hands-on dad, Kaavia spends most of her time with Gabrielle, whether it is at home or on the set of her upcoming series, “L.A’s Finest.” “Jessica [Alba, her co-star] outfitted my trailer like a nursery,” Union said. “Together, we’ve reimagined what Hollywood can be for working moms.”

With seven tv shows and five films on the making, and her compromise as "America's Got Talent" judge, Union will be busy for the rest of the year. But she’s making it work for her and Kaavia.

“This has been the divine coming to fruition,” she says. “Kaavia has allowed us to dream bigger and wider than we ever have before.”