Anderson Cooper's son Wyatt crowned PEOPLE's Cutest Baby Alive 2020

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper's little bundle of joy, baby Wyatt Morgan, has been crowned PEOPLE's Cutest Baby Alive! The six-month-old takes over the title from his playdate companion, Benjamin Allen, who is the son of one of his dad's best friends, Andy Cohen. Cooper welcomed his baby boy, his first child, via a surrogate in April this year and has been thoroughly enjoying every second of parenthood ever since. "It feels like my life has actually begun," the doting father said of his new role in a June interview. "I sort of wonder, what was I waiting for? This is a new level of love."

"It's unlike anything I've experienced, and yet it's also very familiar and incredibly special and intimate. It's really extraordinary," Cooper added. The 53-year-old co-parents baby Wyatt with his former partner Benjamin Maisani, speaking of which he said: "Even though it's maybe unconventional because he's my ex, he is my family." As we previously reported, the journalist introduced his son to the world at the end of a CNN global town hall on the pandemic three days after Wyatt's birth. "It has been a difficult time in all of our lives, and there are certainly many hard days ahead," he said.

"It is, I think, especially important in these times of trouble to try to hold on to moments of joy and moments of happiness. Even as we mourn the loss of loved ones, we are also blessed with new life and new love. On Monday, I became a father. I've never actually said that before, out loud, and it still kind of astonishes me. I am a dad. I have a son. And I want you to meet him. This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten. I hope I can be as good a dad as he was. My son's middle name is Morgan. It's a family name on my mom's side. I know my mom and dad liked the name morgan because I recently found a list they made 52 years ago when they were trying to think of names for me. Wyatt Morgan Cooper. My son," Cooper gushed, sharing photos of his newborn.

Cooper has been open about his longtime dream of becoming a father and how he feared his dream would never come true. "When I was 12 years old and knew I was gay and thought about my life, it always upset me because I thought, 'I will never be able to have a kid,'" he said in June for PEOPLE's first-ever Pride issue. "This is a dream come true." Cooper revealed that Wyatt's birth had given him a new perspective as he continues his work in journalism and that he feels "invested in the future in a way I hadn't really before."

"There's something about having a child that makes you feel connected to what is happening and you want to make sure that the world this child is growing up in is a better one. You suddenly worry much more about the future of all of us," he said at the time. Although Cooper admitted that he'd become "more tired than I've ever been" since becoming a dad, he said he "wouldn’t change it for the world." He also revealed that seeing his baby boy often even moves him to tears. "I cry at things I never cried at before," he said. "And Benjamin, I’ve never seen him cry, but I couldn’t believe how weepy he gets with Wyatt. I find myself being overwhelmed with emotion, and it’s a lovely thing."