OITNB’s Dascha Polanco Opens Up About Becoming a Grandma at 40: ‘I’m Still Fly’ (Exclusive)

Dascha Polanco is loving being a grandma.

The Orange Is the New Black alum, 40, spoke with PEOPLE at the American Express Gold Presents Luar’s SS25 NYFW Afterparty in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 10, opening up about life as a grandma to her daughter Dasany’s son Dior, whom she welcomed in October.

“I’m sure I’m not the first or the last. There’s younger grandmas than me, but I’m still here, I’m still fly,” Polanco tells PEOPLE. “I’m enjoying him. He’s amazing. He’s a model. Dior, he’s modeling and he’s just a blessing.”

As for her favorite thing to do with her grandson, Polanco says it’s just spending time with him.

“To eat him up, gobble him up, change him, get him dressed, make him laugh,” she says. “I enjoy really being able to experience the milestones, but I’d love to take him to a museum. I love to stimulate him that way.”

Last September, Polanco shared she was about to become a grandma in a carousel posted on her Instagram. “I just got a promotion 🩵. 🚫🧢,” Polanco wrote on a photo of herself smiling as she cradled her daughter’s belly. The mother-daughter duo matched in blue dresses for the occasion, while Gonzalez shared images from the baby shower earlier that month.

“We already love you to the moon and back 💙🌙.. countdown till your arrival baby boy🤍,” Gonzalez captioned an Instagram carousel on Sept. 3.

In the first slide, Gonzalez stood alone as she held her growing stomach. In other photos, her partner joined her as they posed together, sharing a sweet smooch in one of the pictures.

In 2020, Polanco opened up to Parents Latina for their June/July cover story about being a young, single mom. The In the Heights actress had Gonzalez when she was 17.

Polanco remembered not being financially stable when she was pregnant and feeling judgment from those around her.

“One night, my best friend’s father said, ‘What you’re doing is horrible,’ and he embarrassed me in front of everyone. I’ll never forget that,” she recalled. “But I was making the best decision that I could. I knew that having a baby was going to make my life harder, but I was also determined to turn every obstacle into a blessing.”