"The alarm on my mobile is set for 8, but with the baby I'm often already awake. At the moment we've got a maternity nurse helping Elen, but once she goes, I'm sure things will get a lot earlier, a lot more hectic. Right now I've got about three-quarters of an hour before I leave for training. I don't bother showering. I just freshen up, stick on jeans and trainers, let the dog out and get her food. Daphne's a french mastiff — like the one in that movie Turner & Hooch. She slobbers a bit, but she's got a beautiful face.

Breakfast is usually a mug of strong English-breakfast tea and a bowl of Coco Pops. If I get bored, the Frosties come out. But I always go back to Coco Pops — I've been having them since I was a kid. We get The Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail delivered, so I usually have a quick flick through and then set off in the car — a blue Aston Martin — for the training ground in Cobham.

I'll turn on the radio or listen to music. I like U2 and Coldplay, but James Blunt's single You're Beautiful has really stuck in my head of late. Being in the middle of a season, the sessions aren't too heavy. There are days when it's harder to motivate yourself — you're tired or have things on your mind, but on the whole I enjoy it. I'm a bit of fitness fanatic, anyway. I got that from my father. He played for West Ham.

I wanted to be a footballer for as long as I can remember. It was all I thought about. But right from the start, Dad drummed it into me that as well as practice you had to be fit. So from quite a young age I'd go off with him on his two- or three-mile runs around Romford, Essex, where we lived. It paid off. By 13, I was good enough to train with two or three different professional clubs after school. I was a day pupil at a private school in Brentwood and I was determined to do well there too. I got nine O-levels, including two As and an A-star, and my teachers wanted me to go on and do A-levels. But if I was going to make a real go of the football, I knew I couldn't. Sometimes I think that if I hadn't made it as a footballer, I'd quite like to have been a lawyer.

Training lasts about an hour and a half, then it's in the shower and lunch.

I eat at the grounds, where they do things like pastas, salads, meat, chicken and fish. There's not much I don't like when it comes to food, and there aren't too many rules about what we should and shouldn't eat. But obviously, for extra energy, I tend to load up with more carbs a couple of days before a game. After lunch I try to keep my days clear, so I can head back home to Elen and the baby. But I do a bit of charity work and I'm currently involved in the Tesco Sport for Schools & Clubs scheme, which is aimed at inspiring kids to take up a sport.

Luna's still only two months old, but I've already bought her first Chelsea outfit. I even got her a shirt with No 8 on the back — the full works. When I got it I didn't show Elen, I just rushed upstairs and put it on Luna. When I came down and Elen saw her, she said: "She's not going out of the house dressed like that!" I love singing nursery rhymes to Luna. The only thing is, I can't remember most of the words, so I have to make them up.

In the afternoon, Mum often pops round for a cup of tea. Her and Dad have bought a place in London, which is great, and also means they're at all the games. I'm very close to Mum — a real mummy's boy, to be honest. We're very similar. Quite sensitive, quite shy. Whereas Dad's been the big influence on my career, Mum's been the one who shaped me as a person: you know, how to treat people, manners, that kind of thing. These days she juggles a lot of her time between me and my two older sisters, as they've also got little girls.

I'll usually take Daphne out for a walk or a run. Or sometimes I'll go out shopping. Occasionally I'll have a blast. The other day I bought a couple of lovely Yves Saint Laurent suits in Sloane Street, and this belt is from Dolce & Gabbana. I'm not really into buying the latest gadgets, but I do appreciate something like a good watch. The one I'm wearing is an Audemars Piguet — a limited-edition Montoya. Sometimes we'll all drive out to a country village, maybe go looking for antiques — I love old furniture. We've only been in our house about six months, so we're still looking for things. One of my favourite pieces is a study table from eastern Europe.

Elen and I go out for a meal a couple of times a week, but we eat in the rest of the time. I've got a thing for M&S's chicken in breadcrumbs at the minute. So it'll be something like that with jacket potato and salad. Elen mainly does the cooking, but occasionally I'll throw a few bits together — maybe a pasta with tomato, chilli and garlic. Normally it comes out okay — not always. Then we might relax in front of the telly. I love things like The Sopranos and I confess to getting addicted to things like Big Brother and The X Factor. But if it's something like Question Time, I just end up shouting at the box.

Before bed I'll let the dog out, do the lights, the alarm and then I might read for a while. I recently finished The Da Vinci Code, and Roy Keane's autobiography, which was a great insight into the footballer. Sometimes, when I think about all those dreams I had as a kid and where I am now, I have to pinch myself. The hard work, the determination, the sacrifices — they all paid off. Life right now couldn't be sweeter."