Riley Norah Tracy: Everything To Know About Norah O’Donnell Youngest Daughter
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Riley Nora Tracy Riley Norah Tracy is the youngest daughter of CBS journalist Nora O’Donnell and her husband Jeff Tracy. Although she is the youngest, Riley is growing up so fast that she is outgrowing her older siblings and has now managed to arouse some public curiosity with her cute teenage charm.

Nora and her husband have talked quite a lot about bringing up their children, including raising Riley. So let’s take a look at some of the highlights of Riley’s life, from her birth to her more recent activities.

Riley Norah Tracy’s Early Life

Riley Nora Tracy was born on 5 July 2008. As of 2021, she is 13 years old. She was born on Saturday at 11:39, weighed 8 pounds, and measured 21 inches long.

Her maternal grandparents, Noreen Bernadette (O’Kane) and Francis Lawrence O’Donnell were a doctor and a US Army officers respectively.

On her mother’s side, Riley Norah Tracy is of Irish descent, with roots in Derry, Belfast, and Donegal (meaning that she comes from both sides of the Irish border). Three of her maternal grandparents were immigrants and her maternal great-grandfather lived illegally in the USA for 16 years.

In addition, Riley’s father is also of Irish-American origin.

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Riley Norah Tracy Siblings: She Is The Youngest Child

Riley is the youngest of Nora and Jeff’s children. Before her, on 18 May 2007, the couple welcomed twins Gracie and Henry. Grace is the eldest and a minute older than her little sister Henry, according to O’Donnell in Baby Love. However, Henry was the dominant figure in the family while they were growing up.

As a toddler, Greisa was bursting with enthusiasm and energy and took after her grandmother Frankie. Nora describes her as a compassionate child, genuinely interested in the feelings of everyone in the room. Growing up she loved to jump off anything and always had skinned knees and bruises when playing in the park.

Like her younger sister, Greisa is a good eater and loves yogurt, pancakes, and bubble water. Nora and Jeff’s first child’s favorite colours are purple and pink. In fact, for some time in her early childhood, she believed that everything pink in the world was hers.

Henry is known in the family as Hank Tank. He was born smaller than his twin sister. As a newborn, he had an attacking forehead that made him look more serious than any child should.

In the book, his mother says that Henry has the most beautiful red hair and has grown up to be a very handsome and strong boy. He was the first of the three to understand how to open a door and he knows how to use a key to start the van’s ignition.

Nora and Jeff’s only son likes guitars, watering flowers, scooters, vacuum cleaners, and acorn hunting. His favorite colour is blue because Greisa told him so. Henry’s favorite foods are bananas and raisins, although he later developed a regular craving for fresh pasta and marinara from his dad’s restaurant.

Riley’s Parents Are Significantly Successful

Riley’s mother, Nora O’Donnell, currently hosts the CBS Evening News. She is also a correspondent for 60 Minutes and CBS Morning’s Face the Nation.

O’Donnell’s news program received 7 437 million views in April 2020, making her the most-watched woman on national television news. The mother of three previously co-hosted CBS’s This Morning and worked for more than a decade at NBC News.

She was named one of Washington’s 100 most powerful women by Washingtonian magazine.

The 47-year-old has won two Emmy Awards, one of which she received in 2008 as a member of the NBC News election night reporting team. The other was for her six-month investigation and coverage of sexual assault at the Air Force Academy for CBS This Morning.

Her Father Is A Celebrity Chef

Like her mother, Riley’s father, Geoff Tracy, is not short of titles and accolades. Her father is an equally famous chef and successful restaurateur. He owns more than six restaurants in the Washington DC area alone, including others in Virginia, Maryland, and several other states.

Some of his awards include the “Best Neighbor Award”, “Chef of the Year Award”, RAMMY Award for “Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene”, “Best Restaurant in Chevy Chase”, “Best Local Chef” and more.

Riley’s parents co-wrote the book Baby Love, which became a New York Times bestseller. They also own a USD 3.2 million houses in the Wesley Heights area of Washington.

Riley Norah Tracy’s Parents Are Very Close To Each Other

Riley’s parents, Jeff and O’Donnell, were married on 8 June 2001. They first met at Georgetown University where they were both students. They got engaged at a dinner at Leon Keller’s legendary French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California.

In an interview, O’Donnell said that she and Tracy painted the walls of the first restaurant together because they could not afford painters or builders.

Riley And Her Siblings Get Limited Screen Time 

Nora shared with CBS Watch Magazine that she and her husband make sure their children, including Riley, limit the time they spend on their phones. O’Donnell also said that she would love to make a TV series about it.

She added that this is the number one issue that most parents are concerned about, and it has to do with the health and well-being of their children.

Riley Norah Tracy: Everything To Know About Norah O’Donnell Youngest Daughter

Tracy and O’Donnell have a rule: No phone use after 8:30 p.m. or during breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They also forbid their children to use their phones in the car.

Whenever they are in a family environment, no phones, because they have to talk to each other, and they have a device at home that they are allowed to text with after an hour or an hour and a half, but it excludes everything else.

She Gave Her Mother Her Funniest Mom Moment

Nora shared with Posh Seven the moment Riley gave her the best mum moment. She recalled an incident when she was busy putting her three children to bed when the Today program called and asked her to do a story on Sarah Palin’s new book.

O’Donnell had no babysitter and was in real trouble. She turned on Elmo and pushed the children in front of the TV. She took her computer and blackberry and hid in the corner of the nursery.

While the presenter’s mother wrote her story, Greisa used the portable potty to take a sip. Seconds after she finished, Riley, then alone, walked over to the potty, picked it up and threw the full potty across the room. As a result, the nursery was covered in pee.

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Riley Norah Tracy Was A Lean Kid As A Child

In her book Baby Love, Norah O’Donnell tells us that Riley was always in the 99th percentile for height and very thin like her older siblings. The journalist’s mum adds that she is so tall for her age that people think she has triplets.

In the book, O’Donnell also reveals that Riley was the perfect baby and slept through the night from the start. She is not a picky eater. Her favorite foods are Alba chicken soup, strawberries, and abolition (which is Spanish for little trees, which are broccoli).

She Loves Animals, Sports, & Music

Riley Nora Tracy also loves chasing the cat, swimming lessons, and cuddling. She loves rock ‘n’ roll and enjoys making music. She also giggles whenever she has to wrestle with her siblings. Tracy and O’Donnell’s youngest child’s favorite color is green. Riley has also taken part in some junior golf tournaments.

Together with her working mother Nora, Grace said she wants to be a rock star, Riley wants to be a “horse rider” and Henry wants to be a footballer.