It was a battle of the celebrity babies after the spoils of magazine covers sold. Both Nicole Richie and Christina Aguilera had their newborns featured in People. So far, baby Harlow is due to outsell baby Max. The Richie/Madden offspring is due to crank out 1.8 million copies versus Aguilera’s 1 million.

Why does there seem to be more interest in Harlow Winter Kate Madden? One magazine insider said part of it could come down to the moms’ fan bases. “Christina historically doesn’t do that well on covers,” said the source, who cites poor sales of her wedding photo issue in OK!, and less-than-stellar sales of her nude photo shoot in the January 2008 Marie Claire. That might be true, but Nicole Richie doesn’t seem like an obvious home run on the cover, either. “There’s also a greater element of curiosity with Nicole,” the source conceded. “She’s gone public about being a heroin addict. Her boyfriend is covered in tattoos. By default, she’s got the more interesting baby. People want to see how she settles down. They want to see what kind of baby someone with her background has.”

This is one ugly version two girls arguing over who’s Barbie is better on the playground. Hey, it’s not their fault we are a group of people who feed off of other people’s lives. I admit it, I am slut for the dramatics. Nicole and Joel go on to drone on to People about fab their new baby is.

“I don’t even remember what life was like before her,” new mom Nicole Richie, 26, says of daughter Harlow Winter Kate, born Jan. 11. She gives life a whole new meaning and a whole new purpose.”

Attuned to her daughter’s needs, Richie says she knows how to pacify her when she’s in need. “I’m with her all the time … I know when something’s wrong,” she explains. And to soothe Harlow, Richie and Joel Madden, 28, play her lullaby versions of Radiohead and Nirvana songs.

Calling parenthood “the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” Joel Madden tells PEOPLE that Harlow has changed his and Nicole Richie’s life: “We have a very mellow life compared to two years ago, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I cried right away,” Richie says of seeing Harlow for the first time. “I was holding her, and it was something that was so much bigger than me. Now she looks a little more like Joel, but when she was born, it looked like Joel had nothing to do with it.”

“I was watching her in her crib,” says Richie. “And she happened to wake up and I was like, ‘Good morning!” And she smiled and it was the cutest thing ever. She’s never out of my mind,” says Richie. “I stop doing things for me anymore. Everything is for her.”

[Click the Thumbnails for a Larger Image]

[MSNBC]