Strawberry Birthmark

Last night when John and I went out to dinner, the hostess who showed us to our table took a look at Noah and said, "Aw, he's so cute, but what happened to his face?" I get some form of this question all the time ("What's that on his face?" "Did he scratch himself?" or my personal favorite "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with his face?!" I mean honestly people, think of a better way to word this question). 

The answer to all these questions is: it's his STRAWBERRY BIRTHMARK. What's that, you ask? I'm not quite sure myself. All I know is, he wasn't born with it - it appeared several weeks after he was born. It started off really small, and at first I thought it was just another scratch on his face as he had plenty of those when he was a newborn from scratching his face with his super sharp nails (I eventually had him wearing mittens 24/7). I admittedly photoshopped it out of some of his earlier photos because I thought it was just a temporary scratch and it would soon go away. However, it started growing bigger and redder and actually developed somewhat of a texture, so I asked his pediatrician about it. He confirmed that it was a strawberry birthmark (there's a more technical scientific term for this but "strawberry mark" is just cuter) and that it would eventually disappear when he's about 3-4 years old. Is it harmful to him? No. It's purely cosmetic. He even mentioned that if it doesn't go away in a few years, I could actually laser it off. But John and I have grown quite fond of it, and many times I don't even notice it (that is, until some idiot yells, "What's wrong with your kid's face?!") John even once said that he'll miss it once it's gone. 

Upon learning what a strawberry birthmark is, I googled it and learned that some kids have it much worse. I mean, like really worse. Seriously. Google it yourself. 

So I've come to appreciate the cuteness of Noah's strawberry mark. Even if it never disappears, it makes him unique and it's part of who he is.