Clay Aiken a Total Hands-On Dad

By Jessica Herndon

12/01/2008 at 04:30 PM EST

Settling into his role as a doting dad, Clay Aiken says he's been a complete hands-on parent.

"It was probably a week before [the baby's mother] had to change a diaper at all!" the American Idol favorite tells Entertainment Tonight. "I'm trying my best to be the one who doesn't always let him get what he wants, but he own us."

Back on Broadway as Sir Robin for the final weeks of Monty Python's Spamalot, Aiken, 30, says returning to the stage will afford him more time with 3½-month-old Parker and good friend – and the baby's mother – Jaymes Foster.

Though the singer says he was "terrified" to take the Broadway stage shortly after coming out, he admits that he went from being "sure I'd get booed off the stage" to feeling comfortable thanks to the crowd's positive reaction.

Aiken says he could no longer be in denial about his sexual orientation once fame took over. "I'm from the South, and we don't talk about our problems," he says. "We sweep them under the rug."

But now, the singer says his life feels "natural."

RELATED GALLERY:
• See Clay's family photos with newborn son Parker