Keke Palmer Says Son Leo 'Goes Every-Single-Where I Go': 'Trying to Maintain His Closeness to Me' (Exclusive)

The toddler was also with Palmer as she hosted the Made by Google After Party on Aug. 13

If Keke Palmer is booked and busy, so is her son!

As the singer and actress, 30, hosted the Made by Google After Party — a star-studded event that followed the Made by Google 2024 Keynote — on Tuesday, Aug. 13, her 17-month-old son Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson stayed close by.

When asked if the toddler, whom Palmer shares with ex Darius Jackson, was backstage during the hosting gig in Mountain View, California, the Password host tells PEOPLE, “He was indeed.”

“He was there for everything,” she says. “He was there for the keynote. He was there for the Keke-note.”

"He was actually making noise, so we had to kind of get him off set a little bit for a second when it came to the After Party,” Palmer continues, adding that he was “tucked away in a back room” while she took the stage.

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From major tech events to BET Awards rehearsal, Leo sticks by his mom's side. “I try to bring him every-single-where I go,” the Nope star tells PEOPLE. “It's the funniest [sic] to me.”

The toddler is more than just a companion though, she clarifies: “He also is engaged.”

At a reception the day before the event — which showcased the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold and revealed updates to Google's AI assistant, Gemini — Palmer recalls, “We’re walking in, we're seeing the party go on, and I just go over there and I'm like, ‘Son, why are you kinda smooth with the execs?’"

"He is literally smiling, waving at them, trying to be talkative. I'm like, ‘Son, what is going on?’ " she says. "So it was just so funny. It's so funny to see him and how he responds to me in the workplace.”

At another recent gig — a concert at New York City's Hudson Yards — Leo responded with a bit of jealousy, she recalls. “The kid’s sometimes boujee with the kisses. He doesn't always wanna show all this affection. He is in his own world,” she says. “But when he saw the fans screaming for me, soon as I got on stage, he literally kissed me.”

“I'm like, ‘Now, son. Not you kind of getting into the mix of it 'cause you're seeing all this hoopla,’ ” she adds with a laugh.

As her second summer as a mom nears its end, Palmer tells PEOPLE, “I'm just having fun watching him grow.”

“I'm very grateful to be able to have this experience,” she says. "I think it's something that I've always wanted in my life. And even though it has its ... I don't wanna even say ups and downs, but it has its challenges just because you wanna make sure that you always show up for the baby.”

“It pushes you, in a way, to be an even more precise version of yourself,” she continues. “And I think that that's the process.”

Related: Keke Palmer Celebrates ‘Being a Mom’ to a Toddler on Mother’s Day: ‘I’ll Do Anything for Master Leodis’

And, as this process continues, one thing is certain: Leo will remain by her side. “I think the greatest thing for me, that I'm always trying to maintain, is his closeness to me.”

“The grace of a career like mine — and, obviously, his age — is just that he can be with me,” she continues. “So I'm grateful for that. I think I wanna just continue to be able to just do that and have him with me and do things together and make sure that he feels part of my life and sees what I'm doing.”

"I'm working, but you know, you're here and we're here together and just to serve as an example for him, that's just important for me,” she adds.

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