"The Apple Of Daddy's Eye"
by Ivor Davis

As Julian McMahon turns up for lunch, without his beautiful actress wife, Brooke Burns, he's openly kissing and cuddling another gorgeous blue-eyed female as the entire restaurant watches with delight. Julian's lunch date is his five-month-old daughter, Madison Elizabeth, his first child and the apple of his eye.

Parking the basinet on the table of his favorite Hollywood restaurant, the handsome Aussie tenderly lifts Madison into his arms and makes sure that her bottle is close at hand, before settling down to talk about his real-life role as Mr. Mom.

With Madison gurgling happily, Julian, 32, munches on French fries and chats about the joy he gets from playing both Mum and Dad while Brooke, 22, is in Hawaii shooting episodes of Baywatch. And the former Profiler star makes his dual role look easy.

"You can only imagine what a delight a baby can bring, but its never as fulfilling as the real thing," says Julian. "Madison has changed my life in a huge way. I sometimes sit back and say 'Can you believe my life has taken a full 360 degree turn -- all because of this little baby.'

"For instance, in this restaurant with Madison, I know I have to order food you can eat with one hand. Otherwise, most of the meals I've eaten the past five months have been cold," he grins.

And as for his Hollywood Hills home, Julian says forget about elegance, these days its Nursery Central. "It's hers," he says. "She has this toy car she can drive around, complete with kiddie phone. The entire house is her rumpus room, full of soft toys, bears, rabbits -- you name it."

Julian says his career is almost on hold as he plays dad. While he admits he gets a lot of help from nannies when Brooke's in front of the cameras, he wants to make sure he spends plenty of time with his daughter.

"The reality is that when Brooke is home, she's the one who gets up at night and changes the nappies," Julian says.

But when she's away, I watch football with Madison. She's at the age when she puts everything into her mouth, so you have to watch her. I also like to feed her. She's now into baby foods from a jar, like carrots, squash and bananas. And she loves to spit carrots all over me."

As Julian expertly grabs a handful of fries with one hand, he insists, "I'm not really Mr. Mom. Mummy is defianitely the hands-on one. I can't take anything away from her. Brook is a phenomenal mother, instinctively perfect."

"For me, its all about watching Madison change from day to day, paying attention to her as she starts to talk. Sometimes, I come home from a day out and look at her and say, 'Wow, she's grown today.' I don't want to miss even a moment."

Soon after Brooke recovered from her pregnancy, she went to work in Hawaii for six weeks with the baby, leaving Julian all alone. "Madison was a smash hit on the set -- she's a hit wherever she goes. But for me, at home, the lights were off, the place was quiet. I couldn't stand it. So, as soon as I'd finished the TV series Charmed, I flew to Hawaii to join them."

A teething Madison sits quietly gurgling and dribbling slightly as her dad talks about their plans for a holidays.

"Brooke's parents are in Texas, so we'll see them on Thanksgiving. I'd like to go home to see my mum and the family at Christmas. They've seen photos of Madison, but Mum hasn't had the thrill and joy of holding her in her arms."

But with both couples working, the son of Lady (Sonia) McMahon and the late prime minister Sir William McMahon, says a trip to Australia, "Depends on our work schedule."

And will Madison have a new baby brother or sister in the near future?

"Well, when you're pregnant and thinking about things, you say, 'I'm gonna have a hundred kids.' Then you have to think about your wife who's having the baby and frankly, the option is hers." Julian explains. So, for now, they're playing it by ear. "We don't want to rush. This little one has so much to offer and learn from."

Julian's now waiting to see what his future holds. We'll be watching him soon as Alyssa Milano's boyfriend on Charmed, and his film Chasing Sleep, with Jeff Daniels, will be out next year.

With lunch over, Julian loads Madison in the basinet, pops a dummy in her mouth, rounds up her bottle and assorted toys, and heads off into the sunshine. Julian declines an offer to help him into the car with Madison. "No, thanks," says the proud dad. "I promised to show her off to a few locals in our neighborhood." He pulls up suddenly, as he recognizes a whiff coming from his daughter.

"Maybe I'll head home," he says."I think I smell something!"