It's easy to say that Curtis is inspiring and leave it at that but there are any number of specific examples which articulate the point. Yesterday, Curtis and I were walking down my parents driveway and started walking towards the "rivers" his cousing Jayden was creating with the hose. Curtis stopped in his tracks and asked me if we had any chalk. He then searched the box for a white piece of chalk, returned to the rivers, and started drawing white dashes in them to create a series of highways. He insisted on putting in at least 15 minutes on this project before we could attempt some wiffle ball.

Last week on the way to play basketball, Curtis insisted on holding the two cups of uncapped water we were bringing to the hoop "to stay hydrated", in Curtis' words. When we reached the street, he stepped on a horizontal soda can so he could loge it in his sneaker and create that crunching noise as he walked. So now he's holding two cups of water which he's trying not to spill and crunching this can underfoot and his mission is to see if he can make it to the hoop with all three items. I asked him why it was necessary to turn a 5 minute walk into a 20 minute walk but all he repeatedly said was "There's no rush, dad. Are you going to wait for me?" Naturally I did and he was proud of himself 20 minutes later when he accomplished his mission. I bit my lip and took the walk on the chin.

A couple weeks ago, Curtis was at a cupcake shop, heard Michael Jackson and immediately started dancing. The girl working then played more Michael Jackson and so he just kept dancing through 4 or 5 of his MJ favorites. The store clerk asked with permission to mention Curtis' visit on their facebook page.


East End Cupcakes Our Vanilla w/ Vanilla had seven-year-old Curtis dancing to Micheal Jackson for 20 minutes. It's been a great morning.


Curtis will seize any opportunity he is presented with and does not care what anyone thinks of him dancing in a cupcake store, or carrying a Smurfette doll around the Farmer's Market (as he did yesterday). He certainly didn't care what anyone thought of his attempts to dart behind every cash register or his attempts to get into employee only areas at every business he visited between ages 4-6. His curiosities often present challenges for his parents and caregivers to say the least, but he always finds a way to teach you a lesson in the work. Like Miyagi making Daniel paint the fence or wax his cars.

Greg, Dad

It's fair to say Napoleon Dynamite has been the most influential movie in Curtis' life. He was delayed in speech and caught a piece of Napoleon Dynamite one day on Comedy Central and was mesmerized. We told him we own the movie and he watched it repeatedly for weeks. Not every day but when he was in the mood for a movie, he wanted Napoleon. His speech blossomed over this time period and he incorporated a lot of Napoleon Dynamite into his dialogue. "Flippin sweet, gosh, heck yes i did," they are all still there. He can do scenes from the movie verbatim. He has also loved to dance ever since his Napoleon Dynamite phase.

Pictured is one of Curtis' patented dance moves. Shortly into any Curtis dance routine, he turns around and starts bouncing his butt up and down. He may or may not spank his butt while he dances and Lord knows where he learned this. It's pretty hard not to laugh. It's hilarious mostly because he tends to be serious while he does this and his break dancing. Curtis likes his Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears and other chart toppers. He certainly did his fair share contributing towards the 170 million views of Rebecca Black's "Friday". However, I get his ear whenever he is in my car and have bounced many albums and songs off him since the time he was born. He has a solid knowledge base of indie rock, alt. rock, some clean rap and some good oldies and tends to like the stuff that is more pop with a catchy chorus. Curtis began making his own mix cd's when he was six. He sat at the computer and watched me do it one day and just began making his own from there forward. Curtis has always been a sponge for music since the days of Baby Einstein and is nearing his own drum set after showing minimal interest in a guitar. When he likes a song Curt smiles and asks you to play it again.....and again, and again, and again. Here are just a few of his favorite songs over the years, any of which sends him into a butt bouncing dance frenzy.

The Strokes- Under Cover of Darkness
The Fratelli's: Henrietta
Dr. Dog- The Old Days
Belle and Sebastian- Your Cover's Blown
Vampire Weekend- M79
LCD Soundsystem- Dance Yourself Clean
Cee-lo- Gettin Grown
Muscles- Ice Cream
Peter Bjorn & John- Young Folks
Michael Jackson- Billie Jean
Franz Ferdinand- Lucid Dreams
Weezer- If You're Wondering (If I want you to)
Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich- Hold Tight
Arctic Monkey's- Brainstorm
Sufjan Stevens- The Henney Buggy Band
Spoon- You Got Your Cherry Bomb
The Big Pink- Dominos

Greg, Dad