Rod Stewart 'in awe' of Penny

Rod Stewart is in awe of how well his wife copes with their new baby.

The 66-year-old singer became a father for the eighth time last month when wife Penny Lancaster gave birth to Aiden, their second son together, and is impressed by how easily the model finds looking after the tot and their other boy, six-year-old Alistair.

Rod said: "I'll never quite understand how mothers manage to do it. She hasn't had much sleep since little Aiden was born. She had two half-hour naps in the middle of the night last night.

"They just wake up and want feeding and comforting. But it is so amazing, because I hold him and he shouts.

"So I said to Penny, 'Why is he peaceful when you hold him?' She said, 'Well, he ca smell the food and he knows my voice and the touch of my skin.' So I take my hat off to mothers and especially my Penny."

Rod - who also has 48-year-old daughter Sarah, who was raised by adoptive parents, Kimberly, 31, Sean, 30, Ruby, 23, Renee, 18, and 16-year-old Liam with four of his former partners - also admitted he feels "lucky" that he is not so tied up with his career now and can spend quality time with his younger children.

He added to Britain's Hello! magazine: "Words cannot describe how incredible it is to witness your newborn coming into the world and the love you feel for both mother and child.

"I am lucky at this stage of my life to be able to focus more on my family life than I was in the early days of my career."