Noah's Waited A Whole Year For This Day...

That's right! Anoop's debut album hits iTunes today! Whoo hoo! Party at Noah's house!

If you've just found this blog then you may not know that our little boy, Noah, has autism and is nonverbal. And kids with autism - as a general rule - aren't that interested in a lot of things. Noah, especially, likes to spend most of his days sitting on his bed spinning the wheels to toy cars or outside swinging on a swing.

He may watch Elmo videos, but he doesn't watch TV or anything outside of Sesame Street.

He likes music, but only music that he listened to as a baby... like The Wiggles "Yummy Yummy" and They Might Be Giants.

So, imagine our surprise last year when the American Idol season started and Noah ran to the TV all excited when a contestant named Anoop Desai appeared on screen and started to sing.

I mean Noah went nuts. He was glued to the T.V. and would hop up and down and clap his hands and get all excited. When Anoop would sing a ballad, Noah would calm down and just gaze at the T.V transfixed - and if Anoop got a negative review, Noah would leave the room. It was amazing to watch... amazing to see that this college kid from North Carolina could wake Noah up from a deep autism slumber once a week for 5 or 10 minutes. We lived for Tuesday nights.

Eventually, Anoop got voted off, so we made a CD of all the songs he sang on the show and Noah loved it. All three kids loved it. All of their favorite Anoop songs on one CD. Perfect.

Well, fast forward to a year later... and BAM! Anoop has released his very first CD as a solo artist.

And you know what? It's pretty darn good. I mean, really good. As in, go to iTunes and download that baby right now!

Listen, I'm not going to lie. I don't really like R&B and Pop. I'm not sure if that's the genre that this album falls into because basically, in my mind, music categories fall into Christian, Country, 80's rock, 90's Britpop (as in British.. NOT Britney), David Cook (muy caliente!), The Best Band Ever: U2 and a final category called "Why would anyone want to listen to anything else?"

BUT... I really like this. It's catchy and I found myself doing a little shoulder shimmy and shake to practically every song. I mean, it's worth checking out. Although the first song has the word "Da*m" in it.... which I don't really like my kids hearing. I guess the words "Gosh darn it" or "Golly geez whiz" didn't really fit into the melody. But all's forgiven, Anoop, because you have put out a really awesome album. Plus, you just look so darn cute on the cover!

Isn't that what every 20 something up and coming R&B artist wants to hear? That some mom just wants to pinch his cheeks and go, 'Oh, look at you, sweetie. Lookin' so cute on that cover. You're so grown up now. Yes you are!"

Really adds a lot of street cred, doesn't it?

But seriously, it's a great album - and Noah loves it!

When the single "My Name" came out on iTunes a few weeks ago, we downloaded it and the first time we played it, Noah came running in from outside, stopped right in the middle of the living room, and froze. He had this look on his face like, "I know that voice! I know that voice! I don't know the song, but I know that voice!". Ever since then, whenever we play it (and it is a catchy little number, let me tell ya), he now runs to the CD player and hops up and down and spins around and I swear he's dancing.

And he's done the same thing with the full album. Right now, no matter what he's doing, he freezes and strains his ear to the stereo and just sits still until the whole CD finishes. So. Incredibly. Awesome. to. Watch.

So, a big shout-out to this man right here below:


Your CD has obviously passed the "Noah Test". Two thumbs up. 5 stars. No doubt about it, you rock! Or is that you "R&B"? Heck, I don't know. But you did a great job.

P.S. You can order the CD or preview it by going to iTunes and search for "Anoop Desai". Or you can just go straight to his official site HERE .

P.P.S. Here's the very first time Noah saw Anoop perform on AI last year. Been a huge fan ever since: