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Mommy & Me

Originally posted Thursday July 19, 2007 12:00 PM EDT

THEN: Before getting married, the actress (in 2005) had a more casual collegiate wardrobe of jeans and sportswear. NOW: At the Hairspray premiere. Holmes was sleek and sexy in Alaïa. "She looks that way all the time," says pal Craig Zadan. Photo by: Flynet; Jackson Lee / Starmax

Likewise, the couple savored their time together in Shreveport, where Holmes quickly endeared herself to the cast and crew by providing surprise treats – everything from cupcakes to ice cream to deep-dish pizza flown in from Chicago – nearly every Friday of shooting. Although Holmes tended to Suri between takes – "I'd see her in the trailer changing diapers and doing normal mom stuff," says Khouri – it was Cruise who took on primary parenting duty. "He'd pick her up and kiss her on the head a million times," says Kay Redstone, who worked as a stand-in for Holmes's costar Diane Keaton. While Mom was busy shooting at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, Cruise patiently explained exhibits to his wide-eyed daughter. "He was holding her saying, 'Look at the horsey, look at the chicken,' just like any new daddy would do," says Redstone. Adds Khouri: "He was a very present father, but he wasn't on the set where we were shooting – partly because Suri would always say 'Mama' really loudly when she saw Katie!"

Now, while Cruise films the upcoming Nazi-era drama Valkyrie in Germany, Holmes is on full-time diaper duty. Not that the actress is expected to stay away from the big screen for long. "Watching her from Dawson's Creek and seeing her develop from a girl into a leading lady . . . seeing her blossom is beautiful," says Meron. "She's very aware of the business." Mostly, though, she's content to continue watching her own little leading lady blossom – and perhaps add to her family at some point. ("Definitely," she told Harper's Bazaar of having another child.) Says Khouri: "I think she really, really loves being a mother. She's a natural."

• By Michelle Tauber and Michelle Tan. Reported by Alexis Chiu and Julie Jordan in Los Angeles, Mary Green and Jeffrey Slonim in New York City, Ruth Laney in Shreveport, Pete Norman in London, Karen Nickel Anhalt in Berlin and Dietland Lerner and Peter Mikelbank in St. Jean Cap Ferrat