At Long Last, the TomKitten Has Arrived

Okay, we're calling it: 2006 is officially the year of the celebrity baby. Not since the world briefly stopped turning in 1953 for the birth of Desi Arnaz Jr. have we so breathlessly awaited announcements from so many beloved stars. Thus far, some of this year's parents are (in order of their kids' appearances): Meg Ryan, Angela Bassett, Jon Stewart, Donald Trump, Drew Lachey, and Chris O'Donnell. And so, on the heels of the Gwyneth Paltrow-Chris Martin-Moses homecoming, the world has finally met TomKitten. The Los Angeles forecast for April 18 called for a mostly sunny day (74 degrees, to be exact; good air quality), and indeed, it was. Tom Cruise, 43, and fiancée Katie Holmes, 27, welcomed the arrival of their first child together, a baby girl named Suri (a derivation of ''princess'' in Hebrew). At press time, mother, father, and daughter — 7 pounds, 7 ounces — were all doing well. Meanwhile, in a Hatfield-McCoy turn of events, Suri came into the world on the same day as seven-pound Grier, Brooke Shields' second daughter with her TV-producer husband, Chris Henchy. Now the nation turns its eyes to Namibia for Celebrity Baby: The Brangelina Edition.