Katie Holmes and her mom Kathleen Stothers took Suri out yesterday in Boston. The girls’ day out included lots of shopping (of course) and a little trip to the gelato/ice cream parlor. Now… most kids love ice cream, in my experience. Most kids love sweets or special treats of any kind. Suri is no exception. But I’ve never seen a kid go this berserk in an ice cream parlor before. This is the kind of crazy usually reserved for the cereal aisle of a supermarket (you know you’ve passed that kid on the floor in full tantrum mode).

While Suri doesn’t look like she’s having a tantrum, she does look like a little girl who knows exactly how many scoops of mint chocolate chip she wants, and she doesn’t care what her mom says about it. Even though Suri Cruise looks like the most hellish, migraine-inducing brat in these pictures, I totally love this kid. She’s got so much energy and personality, and the comparison between her and her zombie mother is always so startling. Oh, and Suri’s outfit rocks too. Pink cardigan, white tank, and a lavender tiered skirt. I believe she’s also rocking the same pair of leopard-print flats as last week.

In one piece of additional Katie Holmes-is-a-zombie news, one more quote was released from her Elle Magazine cover interview. The interview seems to have focused quite a bit on Katie’s “style” (if you could call it that), lots of questions about her favorite designers, et cetera. At some point, they asked Katie what Tom thinks of her fashion sense, and Katie says: “He usually likes everything, but sometimes I’ll walk out and he’ll say, ‘I think that dress might be wearing you. You don’t need that…Tom has great taste.” It would be easy to go to a “Tom Cruise knows his couture, because he’s gay” place. But I’m going in a different direction. You don’t have to be gay to see that Katie doesn’t have the best style, so anything Tom says to her about her clothes is okay in my book. No judgment.

Katie, Suri, Katie’s mom and bodyguard are shown out at Faneuil Hall in Boston on 10/7/09. Credit for photos below: Fame Pictures

Star Magazine has the craziest story this week. It’s about this alleged battle (that doesn’t exist) between two three-and-a-half year old celebrity girls, Suri Cruise and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Every so often, some tabloid (or legitimate magazine) will run a “Shiloh v. Suri” piece, as if the two girls are even in each other’s orbits. I guess it’s because they were born around the same time, and because their parents are famous? Or is it because they both look like their little hell raisers, in totally different ways?

Anyway, I think Star was just using the “Suri v. Shiloh” thing because they wanted to show some cute new pictures of the two girls. Star ran the lipstick and kitten-heels photos for Suri, and Shiloh is shown in her recent outing in France, where she donned camouflage pants, a jaunty hat, a sword and a big gap in her teeth. If you couldn’t see where this is going, I’ll spell it out for you – the princess versus the tomboy. I would have skipped it, but some of this stuff is hysterical. Suri is too “dainty” (like father, like daughter) and Shiloh lost her front tooth playing football with her big brothers. Meanwhile, Empress Zahara was hosting a tea party and couldn’t be bothered with all of this nonsense:

SURI CRUISE: She’s only 3, but Suri is already a budding fashionista. Her indulgent parents let her choose her own outfits and do her own girly thing. As insider says: “Suri like frilly dresses and hates pants… she loves playing dress-up and sitting in front of a huge mirror, putting on Katie’s makeup. Suri has a huge closet, and she gets to pick out her own clothes every day. She loves high heels and she never wants to wear the same dress twice. One time Katie bought her cargo and Capri pants with matching vests and hats, but Suri said ‘NO!’ She wouldn’t put them on. Katie wouldn’t mind if Suri got dirty once in a while making mud pies… But Suri is too dainty for that.”

SHILOH JOLIE-PITT: Shiloh doesn’t have much time for dressing up – unless it’s like her hero of the moment, which is currently Robin Hood! An insider says: “Shiloh is encouraged to be who she wants, and right now she wants to be Robin Hood… she asked Brad for boxing gloves so she could punch Maddox and Pax better. She also climbs trees and wrestles! While Zahara plays with baby dolls and has tea parties with Pax and Vivienne, Shi recently lost a tooth playing football with Maddox and Pax. Pax knocked it out by accident, and Shiloh was stunned for a moment. But she didn’t even cry, even though there was blood in her mouth. After Angie cleaned her up, Shi went right back out and started playing again! She’s totally fearless.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 12 2009]

It’s cute, right? It could have gone to a sketchy place, but Star kept it cute. I love that Shiloh’s new hero is Robin Hood – she must have moved off of Peter Pan. Next up will probably be Zorro. I think it’s interesting that lately Suri seems to be wearing more pants – like these recent pictures of her in Boston with her mom. Suri has started layering tiered tunic or dresses over pants or leggings. It’s very cute, and it makes me believe that she really is dressing herself. What I don’t buy is that it’s Suri who says she won’t wear anything twice - that sounds like something Tom and Katie are saying because they know what a media hit Suri is, and they want to keep providing us with cute pictures.

Here’s Suri in Boston with Katie yesterday. Images thanks to INF Photo.

Here are some pictures of Suri Cruise and Katie Holmes out and about in Boston earlier this week. Surprisingly enough, Katie doesn’t look death warmed over – her outfit is really cute, but I really wish she would stop rolling up her jeans. That trend needs to die. Suri, as always, looks totally fabulous. Thank goodness, she didn’t try to apply her own lipstick again, and she’s not wearing her sparkly kitten heels. Instead, Suri’s rocking striped leggings, a lovely little violet tiered blouse and… drum roll, please… leopard-print ballet flats! Kick. Ass. I love those shoes. I’m with Katie - Suri might be my fashion inspiration too.

The Sun is reporting that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have spent 2 million pounds in total on 3-year-old Suri’s wardrobe – I just did checked with the exchange rate calculator, and that’s $3,220,720! Do you believe it? I’ll buy that Suri’s wardrobe – from her first newborn onsie to her current kitten heels – would be in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” range, but I find $3.2 million to be a bit absurd. Or is it? I was just skimming through our Suri Cruise archives, and it’s kind of amazing how Suri is consistently decked out in beautiful, expensive-looking little doll clothes. Little doll dresses, usually… and no coats and very few pairs of pants. Princess Suri prefers her couture doll dresses, thank you very much.

TOM Cruise’s three-year-old daughter Suri has a wardrobe of designer clothes worth £2MILLION.

Actor Tom, 47, and wife KATIE HOLMES, 30, have commissioned the world’s top fashion names to custom-make outfits for their toddler.

An insider said: “They really splurge on Suri.” The pair’s pal VICTORIA BECKHAM is also said to have commissioned designer ROBERT CAVALLI to make a dress for Suri.

The source added: “Suri is very vocal when it comes to outfits. She’s rarely seen in anything twice.”

[From The Sun]

Yeah, I really don’t think it’s that much, but I haven’t priced kids’ couture lately. My guess is that if there are enough rich, gullible, shopaholic parents (cough cough TomKat), there are probably enough stores that sell $10,000 dresses for 3-year-olds. The tabloids usually inflate these numbers – several months ago, they were reporting that Suri’s special, fancy, elaborate tutoring cost Tom $1 million, and I think that was probably total bullsh-t. If the report has any truth whatsoever, then Katie needs to get a new hobby other than spending Tom’s money.

Suri Cruise and Katie Holmes are shown on 9/29/09, credit: Fame Pictures

Does anyone else get the feeling that whatever spark, whatever personality, whatever life force Katie Holmes once had somehow got transferred to Suri? That’s what I think whenever I see pictures of Katie looking like a zombie – which is pretty much every time she’s been photographed the past two years. Katie’s eyes always look glazed, like she’s been spiritually lobotomized, while Suri has such an excess of personality, she just sparkles with her adorable girly-girl style, even donning lipstick and kitten heels last week.

So Katie had it in her little head that she had enough style to start her own clothing line with her friend Jeanne Yang. While I’ve always found Katie’s fashion sense… let’s say “debatable”, she took the line seriously and she’s even worn a few of her own pieces. Now Katie has given a little mini-interview to Britain’s Sun about her “dream” to be in fashion, and how Suri is her “inspiration”.

KATIE HOLMES has revealed her fashion inspiration… daughter SURI.

TOM CRUISE’s wife has just launched her own line with celebrity stylist JEANNE YANG and says it’s all down to her little girl.

Katie told The Sun: “It has been my dream forever to be in fashion and I’m truly inspired by my daughter Suri.”

“She just loves dressing up so I decided to launch this exciting venture with Jeanne.”

Katie also assured film fans that her new job won’t stop her making movies.

She added: “This won’t interfere with my first passion – acting. I’ve just finished a movie this summer which I am as proud of as I am this collection.”

[From The Sun]

Oh, Katie. I would rather buy clothing designed by Suri, rather than clothing inspired by Suri. I also find Katie’s reasoning a little sketchy – if she’s doing it because Suri loves fashion so much, why not design children’s clothes? Why “design” a line of women’s clothes inspired by Suri? And if Suri is so inspiring, why does Katie still walk around day after day in her sketchy zombie gear?

Tom, Katie, Suri and their bodyguard are shown on the set of Tom’s new film, Wichita, in Boston, MA on 9/22/09. Credit: Fame Pictures. Tom is also shown on set with Cameron Diaz the next day. Credit: Wenn.com

After months of seeing nothing but the occasional grumpy photo of the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes family, we’re now getting non-stop happy images. What changed? Katie is no longer doing her film in Australia, and she and Suri have joined Tom in Boston. Tom seems perked up, stepping out around town in too-tight jeans (are those women’s skinny jeans? Is that a woman‘s v-neck?) and blue wedged heels. Katie seems like her normal zombie self. Meanwhile, Suri is growing up before our eyes! Yesterday, it looked like Suri had gotten herself some lipstick (in a fabulous petal-pink shade) and smeared it on her mouth. Now Suri is stepping up her ensemble!

Yes, Suri has now taken to wearing kitten-heels. They’re pretty fabulous white-silver peep-toes, and you can bet that Suri likes the sparkles. I also like that Suri has paired her kitten-heels with a lovely tiered skirt and a bright pink shirt. Suri has so much more style than her mom, it’s a little sketchy. Still, doesn’t this look like an outfit a little girl would pick out for herself? I don’t think Katie had much to do with putting this ensemble together.

As far as the shoes, I’m sure some people will claim that Suri shouldn’t already be in heels, but this is maybe the one thing I can relate to with Suri. When I was little – around Suri’s age – I was fascinated by high heels, and I begged my mom to get me the little kid’s costume ones. She refused, so I spent months walking around on my tip-toes, pretending I was in heels. Seriously. My parents thought there was something wrong with me, but I know for a fact a lot of little girls do the same thing. I think Suri is one of them – except when she asked for heels, Xenu provideth.

Photo credit: Fame Pictures

Suri Cruise is showing the kids how it’s done. You wonder what sets apart celeb tots from the average child? It’s all about knowing how to pull off a look. Take scene-stealer Suri. Yesterday she was spotted “out and about” with mom Katie Holmes, dad Tom Cruise and brother Connor in Boston. Was Suri looking like any other three year old, sporting jeans with a hole in them and ratty hair? Don’t you dare suggest it. No, Suri was pulling her look together with her mother’s attention to detail: a striped pink shirt with some comfy – but still sophisticated – black pants along with coordinating ballet flats. Ballet shoes are so hot right now. Leave it to Suri to be right on trend. But most importantly, she topped off her look with some expertly self-applied lipstick.

Suri Cruise may only be three-years-old but she’s already experimenting with make-up!

The world famous toddler was spotted in Boston with a smear of pink lipstick across her face as she strolled with her parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

And in what looked like an attempt to accessorize Suri also wore pink ballet shoes and a striped pink shirt too!

Suri often pops up on the best dressed kids’ lists as she is photographed sporting a variety of designer outfits from Burberry to Ralph Lauren.

Cruise and Holmes were also joined by his son adopted son Connor from his first marriage to Nicole Kidman.

Holmes is back in the U.S. after wrapping Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark in Australia while her famous husband is filming Wichita in Boston with his Vanilla Sky co-star Cameron Diaz.

[From Radar]

Suri’s parents have often noted what a girly-girl she is, and she’s become even more so. She’s always in dresses, which she loves to show off so much that she often refuses to wear a coat in the middle of winter. At just 19 months old Christian Louboutin custom made a pair of little shoes for her – in fact she’s long proven herself a girl with a serious shoe fetish. Tom told Hello! that Suri thinks sneakers are “boy shoes,” – even when they’re gold. And if Katie wears a pair of shoes Suri doesn’t like, she’ll actually take them off her mom’s feet.

Clearly this is a girl who has strong feelings about fashion, so it’s no surprise she’s moved on to makeup. I’m sure in a few weeks she’ll be expertly applying lip liner without a mirror – though in the meantime, I’m guessing Tom and Katie can get some fancy designer friend to custom make a gilded mirrored compact for her purse. I had a Burt and Ernie one that made my face like 18 times larger than it really was. But Suri seems more the Venetian mirror type. She’s a whole other level of sophistication.

Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

Even though this week’s photo evidence showed a pregnant-looking Katie Holmes, we still got a formal denial from Katie’s rep. Her person said, “Katie is not in a family way. In fact she and Tom and daughter Suri, 3, will all be heading to Australia in mid-July for Katie’s next film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.” I don’t really understand why the rep threw in that part about Katie filming a movie – it’s not like pregnant women can’t act on camera just because they’re gestating. This isn’t the Middle Ages, you know? Back then, pregnant women did have to pull out of films because of pregnancy. Chuckle.

This little report from Star seems to indicate the same thing, however – that Katie is not knocked up, and that she has no interest in being knocked up any time soon. This bothers Princess Suri, who demands to be brought a little princess sister. It seems Katie placates Suri with dolls whenever Suri asks about babies. Great message, Katie:

Suri Cruise has everything except what she wants most – a sister. But mom Katie Holmes thinks she can buy that for her too!

“Every time Suri asks, Katie explains that it’s not the right time,” an insider tells Star. “And then she buys her another doll to distract her!”

So they’ve been making a lot trips to LA’s American Girl Place, most recently on June 12. At $100 a pop, it’s almost be cheaper to have another kid!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, July 6 2009]

They do go to the American Girl store a lot – they’ve been photographed there like a half-dozen times. Suri must ask a lot of questions about babies. Or Suri is a friggin’ genius, and knows that whenever she guilts her mom about “a little sister”, Katie grabs her purse and they go shopping. Clever girl, that Suri. It must be the barley water.

Katie and Suri are shown outside American Girl Place on 6/12/09. Credit: WENN.com

One of Suri Cruise’s favorite places is the American Girl store in Los Angeles. In April, as mom Katie Holmes carried Princess Suri past the waiting paparazzi, Suri happily munched on a flip-flop, probably absent-mindedly thinking about how she, herself, is much like a doll for her parents. This weekend, Katie took Suri to the store again, but this time it looks like Katie was the one in desperate need of a delicious flip-flop to munch on. Yes, slender Katie looks like she’s not wearing any makeup, which isn’t a crime. But a lot of us manage to eschew makeup and not walk out of the house looking like a cranked-out zombie coming down off of the good stuff. Poor Katie:

While Katie Holmes is busy drumming up some new work for herself, she took a moment for some girly bonding with daughter Suri.

The adorable pair were spotted Friday night at Los Angeles’ The Grove, hitting up Suri-fave boutique American Girl Place.

Toting a blonde doll and powder blue mary janes, Suri and Holmes did a little shopping before getting whisked to their car via a rear entrance.

[From Radar]

Let’s give Katie the benefit of the doubt and say those dark circles under her eyes aren’t Xenu-related. What could make Katie so exhausted? Perhaps it’s Katie’s rumored dance routine/appearance on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance?”. That’s right – it seems Katie Holmes has her heart (and her tap shoes) set on making a special appearance on the dance competition:

Katie Holmes has recently been spotted going to LA-area dance studios several times a week.

But up until now, what Katie was rehearsing for was a mystery. However, Life & Style has learned exclusively that Katie is in serious talks to make a special performance on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance!

“She’s met with judge and producer Nigel Lythgoe and everyone hopes she appears on this season or next season of the show,” a show insider tells Life & Style.

Here’s to hoping that all her practice pays off!

[From Life & Style]

This report actually came out last week, but I didn’t think there was anything to it. Because, really, why is the world would Katie Holmes want to do a dance routine or an appearance on “So You Think You Can Dance?” It just seemed weird. But “weird” is the stock and trade of the Cruise-Holmes household, because this rumor seems to be true. Over the weekend, more sources confirmed that Katie is “rehearsing” something, and on Saturday Tom Cruise visited the private dance studio where Katie was practicing something, “under the watchful eye of Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe.” Ten bucks says it’s a tap routine – and that might end up being sort of cool. I love tap. I can’t do it or anything, but I love to watch a great tap dancer. Sigh. I miss Gregory Hines. Now I need a flip-flop to munch on.

Katie Holmes and Suri are shown at the American Girl boutique in LA on 6/12/09. Credit: WENN.com

Little Suri Holmes often looks upset and can be seen cowering in paparazzi photos. It’s little wonder when you watch video of Suri out with her parents. There are tons of flashes going off and strangers calling the little girl’s name. Some other kids seem to take the paparazzi in stride, but it really bothers three-year-old Suri and we’ve had some discussion here over whether her parents should work harder to protect her from the unwanted attention and stress. Some attention is unavoidable and of course the paparazzi, not the parents, are responsible. On the other hand Katie and Tom have taken Suri out to dinner with them late at night when she might be happier at home.

A story from Cindy Adams’ column in the NY Post shows that observant fans aren’t the only ones worried about Suri’s well being. The wife of Goran Visjnic, the hot Croatian doctor on ER, supposedly scolded Katie at an American Idol taping for bringing Suri to an environment not suited for children:

KATIE Holmes, obviously loving cameras and spotlights, shlepped her 3-year-old to last week’s “American Idol” finale. The fans were shrieking. The paparazzi were hyper. The kid was shaking. Watching this, Ivana Visnjic, artist wife of actor Goran Visnjic, volunteered a lesson in motherhood with: “What are you doing? This is no environment to bring a baby! You’re traumatizing this baby.” Holmes promptly left.

[From The NY Post]

I’m kind of conflicted about this story. My son has food allergies that can make him flip out. I’ve had people yell at me for a temper tantrum my son is throwing at a time when he ate something he wasn’t supposed to and was having a reaction to it. It’s the most stressful time when your child is upset and it makes it worse when judgmental people chime in. At the same time, I’ve seen Suri out in the fall without a coat or tights on and just wanted to bundle her up. It’s sometimes hard to resist the urge to give advice even though it can be annoying when people do the same thing to you.

So Suri was supposedly upset at the premiere of American Idol. It’s very likely that Katie had no idea it would be that chaotic and hard for her to handle and she was probably very concerned about it. Katie has said in the past that Suri loves Idol. You can’t always judge ahead of time if a situation is going to be the best for your child and I can’t blame Katie for wanting to bring Suri to see Idol. She was probably very worried about Suri and stressed out about it at the time. To top it off she got a talking-to by a condescending woman who acted like she was a bad mom for bringing a little girl to a big show.

Tom, Katie and Suri will head to Melbourne, Australia later this year so that Katie can work on the film Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark. The Australian tourism board is ready to welcome them with open arms.

Katie and Suri are shown out on 5/18/09. Katie is also shown yesterday, 5/27/09, in LA. Credit: INFphoto.com

One of the reasons I think most of us believe the stories about Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Suri is because they all seem so logical at the time. “Logical” meaning that when you roll with Xenu, anything’s possible. So even though this report comes from Star, it seems completely plausible. They’re reporting that Suri has gotten it into her head that chopsticks should be used for every kind of food. Not only that, Katie seems to indulge this quirk, carrying chopsticks for Suri at all times, even when Suri wants to eat food that isn’t traditionally a chopstick-friendly item:

A silver spoon isn’t good enough for Suri Cruise. The cultured tot eats exclusively with chopsticks!

Since mom Katie Holmes taught the 3-year-old, “Suri doesn’t like to eat with anything else,” says a source.

During a recent visit to Le Pain Quotidien, “She wouldn’t touch her sandwiches and pastries without them!”

So Katie has started carrying a pair in her purse for her little princess.

“It’s the only way she can get her to eat!”

[From Star Magazine]

It seems totally possible, doesn’t it? And not just because of Katie and Tom’s weirdness, but because kids develop those little eating quirks all the time. I certainly had my share when I was a kid, and it certainly helps if you are an actual only child (me) or a lot younger than your siblings (Suri), because then you’re surrounded by adults who indulge your every whim because they think it’s so cute. Taken with Suri’s princess stuff, I can totally buy that whatever Suri wants (“Mama, I WANT chopsticks!”) Suri gets (“Chopsticks, NOW, mama!”). Oh, and I would love to see a three year old try to eat a sandwich with chopsticks. My guess is that there’s a lot of “stabbing” with the chopsticks.

Here’s Katie taking Suri to ballet class on May 18th. Images thanks to INF Photo.