Joel Madden: Daughter Harlow Taught Me About Love

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23, 2008 07:45 PM EST

Rocker Joel Madden says that fatherhood has turned Nicole Richie and him into "the luckiest two people alive."

"I had no idea what love even was until Harlow came along," Madden, 28, writes on the Web site of his clothing company, DCMA Collective.

"I swear it's so hard to leave during the day, but always so rewarding to come home to the little family. I've always been a guy who loves to love. Probably one of the things that define me outside of my work is LOVE."

Madden adds: "She's already growing too fast!"

First-time mom (and Madden's girlfriend) Richie, 26, is doing well and enjoying parenthood as much as Madden, he says. Their daughter, Harlow Winter Kate Madden, was born Jan. 11.

"Me and her mother feel like the luckiest two people alive right now," Madden says. "This time in our life has been amazing. We both look at our little girl every single moment everyday and know there is nothing we wouldn't do to protect her and her perfect little innocence. It seems like you turn on the TV, or get online, and it's all bad news."