I don’t think I’m going to spend a lot of time discussing Dane Cook’s career longevity after Employee of the Month hits theaters this weekend. If you really want to discuss it, I encourge you to come to the THorum and start a thread about it!

Instead, I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to someone special…

Say hello to my son.

This is a still image from the sonogram Cami and I had last last Monday. We’re in the middle of our pregnancy right now. Cami is measuring 20 weeks and we plan on saying hello to our first child on Feburary 16, 2007. Both Cami and the baby are in great health.

I wish I had something clever or insightful to say about being a father-to-be, but the experience thus far has humbled me a great deal. All I can say is that this is something I’ve always wanted and I eagerly look forward to the day I can hold my son in my arms for the first time. Both Cami and I are thrilled. We’re starting our family.

Adjusting the the notion that you’ll be a father takes a little while. Cami took a pregnancy test on a Saturday in May and woke me up at 5:30 in the morning. She kept asking me "Does this look like two lines to you?" I didn’t have my glasses on. I couldn’t see a thing. My mind was still in a fog as I was starting to wake up. In some respects, I’ve been in that fog for the past few months and only now is it starting to clear.

When I speak about being in a fog, I don’t mean that this pregnancy was unexpected, unwelcome or confusing. Quite the contrary. We knew exactly what we were getting into, planned for it and welcome it. Rather, I speak to the barrier in understanding the sublte changes in Cami and what she was going through. I tried to be supportive, read the parenting books and struggled for comprehension. But because it wasn’t happening to me directly, I felt like I only had half of the picture. It came together for me clearly when the technician administered the sonogram and I watched on screen as my son did backflips and Cami said "He’s really moving in there!" It all became so real and now I can barely contain my excitement.

Believe me when I say that it was difficult for me to keep this news under wraps for so long. I consider you guys great friends and it killed me to keep it from you. Part of the reasoning we waited as long as we did was so that we could (obviously) tell our familiy and close friends first. After that, I decided to wait until after the sonogram because I wanted to show you guys the picture. The internet, after all, is a visual medium! I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have a forum like this that I can share my joy with such a wide audience. I am very much the proud papa and I want the world to know it.

It’s been a big year of change for my family and for Theater Hopper. I’ve seen a lot of success lately with the comic producing books, getting press and widening my fan base. I gotten tons of wonderful e-mails from you guys and I am continually amazed at the level of  support you bring to me for what I do in my spare time. Your incredible enthusiasm is an inspiration.

As I start another chapter in my life, I wanted to share it with you – to say "Thank you." Because I consider you my friends and I want to share this happiness. So, thank you! Thank you for this indulgence. Godspeed and good health to you all.