Teddi Mellencamp’s famous dad is a doting grandpa. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star shared a sweet photo of her rock star father, John Mellencamp, in his alter ego role as “Peepaw” during a visit with Teddi’s newborn baby girl, Dove.
Two weeks after Dove’s birth, Teddi, 38, posted an Instagram photo of her dad cradling the baby while sitting on a couch at her Los Angeles area home. The 68-year-old “Pink Houses” singer appears to be enamored by his littlest grandchild, who is swaddled in a white blanket as she sleeps.
In the caption to the post, Teddi referenced her dad’s hit 1985 song, “Small Town,” as she noted that her third child loves when her “Peepaw” comes to visit her in the big city, far away from those small towns he sings about.
Several of Teddi’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-stars, including Lisa Rinna and Kyle Richards, responded with comments and heart emoji. Other followers loved John’s “grandpa” name and noted that the Mellencamp genes run strong.
“If I was a grandpa I would wanna be called Peepaw,” wrote Richards’ daughter, Sophia Umansky.
“So freaking cool! She has no idea the legend that is her Peepaw!” another follower added.
“Such an awesome photo that shows so much love,” a third fan wrote.
“Congratulations. Grandpa John looks very happy,” another added of the music legend.
This appears to be John’s first meeting with his baby granddaughter. When Dove was born late last month, the rocker was recording tracks for his upcoming new album at Belmont Mall Recording Studio, his personal recording space in Indiana, according to a series of posts on his Instagram page.
In addition to Dove, Teddi and her husband, Edwin Arroyave, have two other children, Slate, 7, and Cruz, 5, so John has been a “Peepaw” for a while now. An insider told Hollywood Life that while John does not live in Los Angeles, he is very close with Teddi and talks to her on the phone almost every day.
“He’s a very devoted grandfather,” the source added. “The kids are crazy about him and he’s crazy about them. He’s elated to have another baby in the family.”
The new photo comes a few days after Teddi shared a similarly sweet photo of her dad holding her up when she a baby in the summer of 1981. In the photo, a 29-year-old John is wearing ripped jeans as he poses with his baby girl during his days as John “Cougar” Mellencamp, and just ahead of his breakthrough 1982 album, American Fool.