After Dylan Dreyer and her husband, Brian Fichera, welcomed their third son, the couple wondered if they should try for a girl.
“Don’t think Brian and I haven’t had that conversation,” Dylan told TODAY.com earlier this year. “But it’s like, no, we are so done. I know my luck and it would be a fourth boy!”
The TODAY meteorologist noted that she is extremely close with her dad, and wishes Fichera could experience a father-daughter relationship.
“It’s a special bond and I’m sad that Brian won’t have that,” Dylan said. She then quickly added, “But we’re good!”
Dylan has a good sense of humor when it comes to motherhood with her three sons, Calvin, Oliver and Rusty. Just ask Fichera, who filmed his wife vigorously agitating a cocktail shaker to drown out their rowdy children. It went viral after Fichera posted the footage on Instagram.
In an email to TODAY.com, Dylan described her internet fame as “crazy.” She also had a message for the parenting police in the comments.
“Here’s the thing: Some people might not love the idea of drinking around your kids and to those people I say, ‘Don’t judge!’” Dylan wrote in her email. “I’ve got three boys who love being loud and love loud noises, so what better way to get the party started than with a cocktail shaker!
“It was a funny joke of drowning out the sound,” she continued. “Seeing the number of views, clearly parents can relate!”
Dylan and Fichera, a cameraman, started off as friends when they met while working the morning shift at NBC’s Boston affiliate, WHDH, more than a decade ago. In October, they will celebrate their 11-year wedding anniversary.
In January 2023, Dylan told TODAY.com that their favorite dates take place on a golf course. Fichera introduced Dylan to the sport back when they lived in New England.
“Golf is the thing we do together. We have a couple of drinks, we laugh. We remember why we fell in love,” she said. “Then we go home and it’s right back to family.”
Read on to learn more about Dylan’s three children:
Calvin, born Dec. 17, 2016
In December 2016, Dylan and Fichera welcomed their first baby boy named Calvin Bradley Fichera. At birth, Calvin weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces.
“I pushed for about three hours, and he was a big guy and he didn’t quite fit, so he got stuck,” Dylan said, during a video call with her TODAY family.
Dylan also explained how they chose the little boy’s moniker.
“Brian and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and I think someone’s name was Calvin and we were like, ‘I kind of like that,’” she said, at the time. “And same with Bradley. We’re trying to set him up to be a cool kid and we thought Calvin Bradley was a good start with that.”
There’s no question, Calvin is one cool kid with a variety of interests, including whipping up delicious homemade meals. The rising second grader appears alongside his mom in TODAY’s “Cooking with Cal” series. Not only is Calvin helpful in the kitchen, but he also provides adorable commentary.
“Calvin has transformed from my best taste tester to my favorite little sous chef,” Dylan gushed in 2021.
He’s had a major change in his diet, however. Calvin was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2023 after experiencing frequent stomach pain.
“There was one time the pain was so bad that we thought maybe he had something like his appendix burst,” Dreyer previously told TODAY.com. “He was hunched over.”
Calvin is feeling much better these days, now that he’s on a gluten-free diet. Dylan called Calvin a “rule follower,” because he’s been good about turning down foods he cannot eat. She also sends him with gluten-free cupcakes or snacks so he’s not left out during class treats or birthday parties.
“Not only is it not feeding him any wheat products but it’s also the cross-contamination risk,” Dylan told TODAY.com. “All of my stuff in the kitchen had to be thrown out, all of our wooden spoons, wooden cutting boards, anything that had a scratch in it … any rivets on the inside of the pot where the handle is. All of that had to be thrown out because gluten can hide everywhere.
Along with cooking, Calvin also loves playing golf and soccer, doing karate and spending time with his younger siblings. In 2022, Dylan shared a picture of Calvin and Oliver that she said made her “heart ache with love.”
“Ollie was the only one at his soccer practice today and Calvin was hot and tired really just wanted to sit and watch,” she wrote. “Ollie asked Calvin if he would play with him and Cal immediately jumped up and joined him so he wouldn’t be alone. #brothers.”
Oliver, born Jan. 2, 2020
Dylan and Fichera endured secondary infertility issues and a miscarriage after having Calvin, so welcoming Oliver to the family was particularly special.
“I feel like I’m in heaven,” Dylan said in 2020 when she called into the show from maternity leave.
When asked about choosing his name, Dylan explained that she and Fichera had the name on a shortlist early on, and then found themselves seeing it and meeting Olivers everywhere they went.
Fichera, who gives everyone silly nicknames, calls Oliver “Olls Balls” or simply “The Balls.” Oliver is also known as Ducky.
Oliver was 21-months-old when Rusty was born.
“He’s adjusting,” Dylan said on TODAY in 2021. “He doesn’t really understand the word gentle. We’re trying to teach him that word. There’s a lot of jumping on the couch. We have to keep the baby away from the couch, or else he’s just going to get stepped on.”
But now he’s embraced being a big brother. In 2022, Fichera shared a photo of Oliver crying happy tears at the sight of Rusty. He’s also “so attached” to Calvin, according to Dylan.
“He looks up to Calvin for his approval and it’s like, ‘Calvin, I did it. Calvin, Calvin look,’” she said in an interview with Yahoo Life! “Just that dynamic of watching them as brothers and just Calvin being so proud of Ollie and Ollie wanting to show off for Calvin and soon Rusty will be right in the mix.”
When Oliver turned 3, Dylan posted a clip of him strumming an air guitar.
“My sweet Oliver… you’ve been singing and dancing to your own tune since the day you were born,” she wrote. “You bring so much joy and love to our lives… Thank you for being you!”
Rusty, born Sept. 29, 2021
Russell James was born six weeks early and spent several days in the neonatal intensive care unit at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
While having Russell in the NICU was stressful, Dylan said that it actually gave her some time to recover after giving birth.
“I’m actually sleeping because the baby’s being taken care of,” she said. “I’m not, ‘Is he hungry? Does he need a diaper? Is he cold? Is he hot?’ He’s so well taken care of that I actually slept last night. This is the best I’ve felt.”
Rusty, whose real name is Russell James, is named after his paternal grandfather, Russell, and his maternal grandfather, James.
“It was really special to tell them, and nice to see them cry and tear up a little bit,” Dylan shared about the namesakes’ reaction in an interview with Hello magazine. “It’s hard to make grown men cry!”
Rusty, who can’t resist a scoop of chocolate gelato, recently spent time in Italy with his family.
“I didn’t realize the most difficult part of our vacation would be keeping Rusty off the floor,” Dylan captioned an Instagram. “I gave up after a while. He’s one very determined and stubborn little almost 2 year old.”
“(Don’t worry, his doggie just had a hot bath),” she added, referring to Rusty’s stuffed animal.
“The best future immune system goes to Rusty!” one fan wrote in the comments.
Added another, “He’ll end up being the healthiest one!”
