Nicole Richie, Joel Madden and their baby Harlow, who will be four months old in a few days, appear in a new photo spread in Harper’s Bazaar. It features Joel and Nicole in couture looking privileged along with Harlow in her own cute clothing. Nicole’s dad pop singer Lionel Richie also appears, looking very much the proud Grandfather. The shoot reminds me of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s first baby spread in People with more focus on the newborn and less haughty expressions.

Extra TV has details of the accompanying interview with Nicole, and she’s outspoken about her love for her daughter and the way Harlow has changed her life and her circle of friends. She says that Joel is very helpful with the baby and changes more diapers than she does:

Richie tells “Extra” that she is the first in her circle of friends to have a baby. She elaborated, “I feel like my group of five to ten friends, they really love her, like she’s theirs… my friends never go outside for smoke breaks anymore, they don’t curse, they are definitely more demure. It’s actually been really interesting.”

As for how new dad and fiancé Joel Madden handles diaper duty, Richie admitted, “Joel actually changes more diapers than I do… It’s his time with her. He sings to her… he laughs with her, plays with her. It’s amazing.” Richie revealed that her father, Lionel, hasn’t offered her any parenting advice, but that “he comes from a father standpoint. He gives Joel a lot of advice.”

[From ExtraTV.com]

Nicole also says that she finds the paparazzi scary and doesn’t want that kind of circus around her daughter. She calls herself “the luckiest girl alive” and says she has “nothing to complain about.”

Nicole and Joel got some slight heat for making appearances at events and parties in the month after their daughter’s birth. That was during the Grammy events, though, and it was important that Joel attend some parties for his job. They seemed to have reigned it in though, and although they still go out it’s not like they’re partying it up every weekend. We reported a story from Star earlier in the week that speculated that “Nicole is torn between being a mommy and being a party girl” and wanted some freedom but didn’t want to leave her baby.

Nicole certainly seems like a great mom. Compare her actions to the way that Jennifer Lopez is behaving – talking about competing in a triathalon to make her babies proud and heading out to every event to show the world how well her fitness program is working.

Doesn’t Harlow look like she has so much personality already? I love her expressions, she’s a little weisenheimer you can tell.

These photos are from Harper’s Bazaar’s website, where there are many more.