Long time no see......

Well, it's been a long time. Sorry the site has been down so long. I lost my hard drive so it's taken me a while to rebuild the site and get it back online via my host provider. The good news is that we have a lot to report. In fact, just before the site went down I drafted the 6-month posting but never got a chance to get it online. Below is a cut/paste of the 6-month posting followed by more recent highlights....enjoy.

"Top 8 Dasan Highlights of April-June

8. Baseball Practice
Dasan has taken a particular interest in balls. He enjoys playing with his little baseball and football. You can imagine this is very exciting for me, in particular.

Now, a lot of folks think Earl started pushing Tiger a little too early when he put that first golf club in Tiger’s hands at age 2. I think Earl waited too long, myself. Just think how good Tiger could be if he had that extra year of practice under his belt. I’m not going to make the same mistake Earl did. Dasan and I have already started baseball practice. We start each practice with partner stretching and then work on ball gripping mechanics. I’m a little concerned about Dasan’s work ethic though - I can’t keep him focused on the 4-seam 3 seconds before he’s trying to eat the ball.

7. Diaper Fun
For the first 2 or 3 months of Dasan’s life, diaper changes were not fun for him because he didn’t enjoy the cool wet wipes we used to clean him up. Somewhere around Month 3 he began to appreciate the interaction that came with a diaper change. He’s develop a fairly robust repertoire of noises and your best bet for hearing a lot of them is to sit in on a diaper change. He loves the fact that you’re face to face so he'll squeal, buzz, laugh and coo from start to finish. It’s really made diaper changes a lot of fun. We hardly even notice the stench that's sure to worsen as he starts eating more solid foods.

6. Deep Thinker
I’m pretty sure when I’m in deep thought I resort to uncontrollably loud breathing. My mouth drops wide open and I begin siphoning air through my perpetually clogged nose. Not my most endearing quality. Dasan is showing early signs that he’s inherited that same disregard for public appearance and bodily function when in deep thought…his, for the moment, is considerably more endearing. When Dasan fixes his concentration on a ceiling fan or a sucker sticking out of his dad’s mouth it’s not uncommon to hear him just start mumbling and cooing, as though he’s spurring himself on to unravel these mysteries. He’ll contort his mouth into a variety of awesome shapes (think Jim Carey) as he stretches his little mind. It’s hypnotizing to watch.

5. Hasn’t Met a Stranger Yet
Kim and I love the fact that Dasan is so undiscriminating with his perfect smile. Apart from those periods of the day where he’s hungry or tired, he’ll smile at everybody he meets. It’s apparent that he gets genuinely happy when somebody smiles at him, and you just can’t help but smile when you meet Dasan.


4. Clockwork
Dasan has become a great sleeper. Kim has done an awesome job getting him onto a predictable sleep/wake-up schedule and that has been good for all parties involved. The fact that Dasan gets to sleep between 8 and 8:30 and doesn’t wake up until at least 6 means that Dasan is getting the rest he needs to grow, and Kim and I are getting the uninterrupted sleep we need to function. If you pay close attention to pictures of us during months 1-3 compared to pictures of us during months 4-6 you’ll agree we’re definitely getting more sleep these days.

3. Touchy-Feely
One of Dasan’s favorite things to do these days is reach out and grab our faces. If you hold him within arms’ length of your face it doesn’t take him long to get two fists full of cheek (or lip, nose, or ear – pretty much anything with a handle on it). If he’s feeling particularly touchy-feely he’ll even lean in and give you a “kiss” – but don’t get too excited, he’s more interested in sucking on your face than displaying his undying love for you.

2. Outdoor Enthusiast
Dasan doesn’t cry a whole lot these days. If he’s crying it’s a safe bet he’s either tired or hungry. Dasan’s love for the outdoors becomes most evident during those rare occasions when he just feels like crying. He can be whaling his head off, but the second he steps outside he completely stops crying and just starts soaking in everything around him. We saw this for the first time when we were taking Dasan home from the hospital. He was screaming bloody murder, but as soon as we got him outside he calmed down. We’re in for lots of adventures with Dasan outdoors!

1. 15 Minutes
Sometime around April I was contacted about being in a national Verizon commercial. I was approached because they wanted to focus on Verizon FiOS Internet and TV and had heard that I had a tendency to be hammy and my job at the time was to travel the country giving motivational speeches inspiring our sales force to sell more FiOS. After several interviews and a screen test they decided to go with me. Here’s the cool part. I had talked a lot about Kim and Dasan and actually pointed the director of the shoot to our website to see us in action. My stories and the photo albums inspired the director to focus the ad on my job as it pertains to my family, so Kim and Dasan were asked to participate in the commercial too. A week later we flew to DC for the 2-day shoot. It went awesome. The commercial hit the air (national radio and tv) on heavy rotation beginning in June and ran through early August. We had folks contacting us from all over the country to say they saw us on TV in the airport or while they were working out on the stationary bike. The coolest part of the whole deal is that we have a very cool memento that captures our family when Dasan was so young. If you haven’t seen the commercial, go to our home page and click on “raccoon”."

Since June, Dasan has really taken off.

• Some time around June we started feeding Dasan cereal. He's gotten a little better at this, but early on it was hilarious because he'd wind up with cereal all over his face, even in his hair - especially when i fed him.

• Some time around late June Dasan started scooting around. Imagine a dude in boot camp trying to crawl below the barbed-wire in a training drill. Dasan would pull himself around with his arms and only occassionally wiggle his legs haphazardly.

• Less than 3 weeks ago Dasan finally put it all together and started crawling around with increasing efficiency. It's fun to watch him get around.

• Also in the past 3 or 4 weeks Dasan figured out how to stand up on his own. He still needs a crutch, but can easily pull himself up by the coffee table or a stair. In fact, just yesterday he made his way up 8 stairs completely by himself. It's fun to go into his room in the morning for the first time because, without fail, we'll find him standing up in his crib crying. As soon as we walk in he stops crying and tries to reach out for us. Awesome!!!

• Dasan still isn't talking, per se, but he is forming consonates and really babbling a lot. Kim and Rachel sing Ba-Ba Black Sheep to him a lot, so his favorite babbles begin with "b". It could also have something to do with the fact that he knows "bottle" is a very good thing.

Well now that the site is back up, you can expect more regular postings from us. Be sure to go to the Dasan Blake Hill tab and check out the new pictures from June , July, and August. Enjoy!