TODAY's Craig Melvin is a proud dad to two kids, Delano, 10, and Sybil, 8, whom he shares with his wife, sports broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak.
Craig, who was announced as TODAY's new co-anchor alongside Savannah Guthrie on November 11, published a children's book about fatherhood titled "I'm Proud of You in May 2024. In the book, he said that parenting gives him "a sense of purpose."
"Like, when I wake up in the morning, part of the reason I work so hard is for you and your sister," Craig told his son as Delano interviewed his dad on TODAY.
"Part of my motivation is to make the two of you proud. It's funny because before you two came along I was kind of beep bopping through life and then all of a sudden, I'm trying to be a good example," he continued.
Read on to learn more about Craig’s kids, Delano and Sybil.
Delano, 10
On March 10, 2014, Delano Joseph Melvin was born. On the day of his birth, Craig shared a selfie and tweeted: "My son already looks at me like, 'really dad. Really?'" He also noted that his son's nickname would be "Del." Craig's middle name is also Delano.
In June of 2022, Craig shared photos of 8-year-old Del receiving his first Holy Communion, along with pictures of his parents and in-laws, who were on hand to celebrate.
Craig tells TODAY.com that Del loves playing football and basketball and is a voracious reader who is also "a little dinosaur expert." In November of 2022, Craig shared a photo of him and Del at a Kansas City Chiefs football game.
One of Del’s role models is Patrick Mahomes. While speaking to TODAY, Craig opened up about his son being biracial.
“I am convinced that one of the major reasons Del became such a big Kansas City Chiefs fan is because he did see himself in Patrick Mahomes,” he explained. “He loves football and started to notice this kid, who had skin that looks like his, and hair that looked like his, performing on a national stage. Representation matters, and we know that to be true.”
On March 11, 2024, Craig celebrated his son's birthday when he shared a carousel of photos of Del's 10th birthday party on Instagram.
He captioned the post, “In the blink of an eye our little boy went from the baby who made us parents to the fun loving, caring 10 year old kid we adore. I think one of the coolest things is when you find yourself just really enjoying the time you get to spend together as they grow, experiencing the things they love and seeing it all through their eyes. We had a memorable weekend celebrating. Couldn’t love this crew more.”
Sybil, 8
On November 5, 2016, Sybil “Sibby” Ann Melvin was born.
In an interview with People, Lindsay and Craig shared that “Sibby” was initially short for sibling, and was a nickname Del would use while Lindsay was pregnant.
Craig describes his youngest child as “the life of the party.” He adds that she loves gymnastics and dance, and also has started playing lacrosse, a sport her mom played in high school.
When Sibby started kindergarten, Craig shared a sweet photo of his daughter’s first day.
“You would be hard pressed to find anyone more excited about going to kindergarten than Sibby Melvin yesterday,” Craig said on TODAY about his then-5-year-old daughter. “She was ready.”
Craig also said his daughter has different interests than her brother. While Del might be fine with "sitting and watching 'Planet Earth' and sharing a word or thought every 15 or 20 minutes or so," Sibby has to be more engaged.
“My daughter requires what I like to call active engagement," he said.
Since she's not into sports, Craig has found different ways to connect with Sibby. So far, they enjoy talking about their emotions.
“We spend a fair amount of time just talking. Or, it would be more accurate to say, I spend a fair amount of time listening — she’s at a stage now where she loves sharing her thoughts," he said at the time.
Sibby enjoys dancing. In 2023, her dad got very emotional when he went to one of her dance recitals. Craig recalled the moment in an interview with Parents.
“I was never one who is prone to a great deal of emotion until fatherhood,” he said. “My daughter recently had a dance recital that was two and a half hours for a three-minute performance. My daughter was third to last, and by the time her group got up to perform, I was just as excited about it as she was. The confidence she displayed was outstanding, and I found myself getting teary.”
She's also a big reader. In 2022, Craig gushed about Sibby's love of reading.
"My daughter, Sybil, she's officially a reader," he said on TODAY while talking about his weekend. "Last night she read her first book to me."
Craig noted that it was a sweet moment because his daughter had been "trying so hard for so long" to read a book.
On Nov. 5, 2024, Sibby turned 8 years old. In honor of her special day, her mom posted a bunch of pics of Sibby through the years on Instagram. In one photo, Sibby, her parents and her brother were wearing party hats in front of balloons.
"This is 8!" Lindsay captioned the pics. "It was a full day celebrating the girl that lights us up more than we could ever imagine Her kindness, creativity, honesty and fearlessness inspires me every day."
"This year, I also learned she is a top notch concert buddy, she cares deeply for her friends and family and headstands are often her choice of lounging style I’m so lucky to be her mom and love that I truly wish I could be more like Sibby when I grow up:)" she continued. "Happy Birthday sweet girl! We can’t wait to see what this year brings."
