Seth Meyers on Writing First Kids' Book with His Sons and Welcoming Third Baby During Home Birth

Lloyd Bishop/NBC Seth Meyers

Since Seth Meyers and his wife Alexi Ashe welcomed their third baby, daughter Adelaide, last September, the TV host has been spending quality time with his sons.

"[The baby] needs a lot more from my wife than she needs from me, so I get to spend all this time with the boys," says the Late Night With Seth Meyers host, 48. "They have just reached the age where they're genuinely good company — the two people that make me laugh the most."

The boys, Ashe Olson, 6, and Axel Strahl, 3, were only too happy to give their dad feedback when he was writing his debut children's book, I'm Not Scared, You're Scared, which published on Tuesday. (The picture book is illustrated by Rob Sayegh.)

In an interview featured in this week's issue of PEOPLE, Meyers talks about writing his kids' book, welcoming his daughter with a home birth and how his family is adjusting to being a party of five.

"I spend so much time reading to my kids, I wanted to throw my hat into the ring," Meyers says of the inspiration behind I'm Not Scared, You're Scared, in which a bear learns to face his fears.

The comedian wants the book to provide a space for kids to discuss the things that frighten them. "The best way to deal with your fears is to talk them out with someone who loves you," says Meyers. "And parents play that role really well for kids."

He admits that he's had his own anxiety to navigate during the past couple of years.

"I've always said, in difficult times, the show does more for me than I feel like I'm doing for the audience," the TV host explains. "We just had two weeks off for the Olympics and that's when I don't know what to do with my fears or my anxieties, because I don't get to go out and tell jokes about it."

Meyers is grateful that his kids are still too young to fully understand all of the scary happenings going on in the world. "I feel lucky right now that they're not quite at the age where they can fully process how scary a time we live in," he says. "We're not going out of our way to shatter that innocence."

At bedtime, Meyers and the boys read two to three books together. It was during this nighttime routine that he got their feedback about his book idea.

"I conceived the story first before I put it on paper. I would tell it to the boys at night and they would give me feedback," says Meyers, who noted which parts of the story the boys seemed to enjoy the most. "I don't think I would've done it without kids because I wouldn't have thought it was going to be this rewarding."

Seth Meyers/Instagram Seth Meyers with his boys

Meyer's sons, especially his oldest Ashe, also gave their thoughts about the possibility of a third sibling. "My oldest was the one who begged for — not just another baby — but he really wanted a baby sister," says Meyers. "He will proudly tell anyone who asks that this baby was his idea."

For the first time, his wife gave birth with a planned home birth, which Meyers says was a "wonderful" process. When their sons woke up, it was better than Christmas morning.

"[Adelaide] was born at a perfect time, at 10 o'clock at night," Meyers explains. "So she got to sleep in bed with us the very first night. And the boys got to wake up, it was like Christmas morning, except it was a baby girl instead of some plastic toy they'd get bored of in an hour. It was great."

Meyers says she's a "chill baby" and is adored by her older brothers.

"Their most exciting thing to do in the morning is we let them go in and wake her up," he says. "They crawl into her crib, and are very gentle and very loving and get their faces very close."

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Rather than adjusting to having their first girl, Meyers says the bigger change has been having three kids.

"That is fascinating to me, because she just is the most chill baby we've had," Meyers says. "And there's this sense that she somehow is aware there's a lot going on with the boys. I feel like her vibe is, 'Look, I'm going to give you guys the space you need now. And then when I'm a teenager, I'll be a f---ing terror.' "

With the possibility of hormonal teenagers in the future, Meyers says he and Alexi are content with their family of five and aren't planning on another child.

"There's a better chance I'll write a second book than that we'll have a fourth baby," Meyers jokes.

I'm Not Scared, You're Scared is on sale now.