All About Faces

Some of you may be aware, but after several miscarriages, Laura was nervous going into the first ultrasound while pregnant with Nathan. She prayed, "God, will I ever get to see this baby's face?" as she went to the appointment. During the ultrasound, the technician commented that it was rare to see a baby's face at that stage of pregnancy but Nathan had turned his face toward the ultrasound! Laura felt it was an answer to her prayer and that we would indeed see this child born!
Since birth, Nathan has been interested in faces. I remember his asking at a very young age about a sitter who was coming to watch him, "What kind of face does she have?" He still asks about new people (teachers, sitters, doctors, etc.) before meeting them. AND, he will tell us if someone has a nice face or not. As sibling battles erupt, he often tells Evan, "I don't like your face, Evan!" We discourage him strongly about such personal verbal attacks.

Perhaps because of Nathan's face obsession, Evan often comments on faces, too. One recent evening, Nathan had missed his nap and was having an emotional meltdown. He lashed out at me verbally as he informed me that he was NOT taking a bath, he didn't want me to TOUCH him, he didn't LIKE me, and he didn't like my FACE! Recognizing his fatigue and emotional instability, I scooped him up, informed him of his foolish behavior and choice of words, issued the due consequences for his actions, bathed him and put him to bed. After this little ordeal, I sat down on the sofa with Evan, who climbed into my lap, hugged me tight, then looked into my eyes and said with all the heartfelt sincerity in the world, "Daddy, I love your face!"