Why DH grew the beard is another family story. [Background: my kids had 5 uncles, and all had beards, but not their daddy.]
At age 4 my son came down with chicken pox the day after Christmas. He had exposed my husband, mother-in-law and his 6-year-old sister. Of course, right on schedule, three weeks later all got sick. DH and MIL were very, very sick, really miserable, quite covered with blisters. DH couldn't shave for weeks for fear of knocking the scabs off and scarring his face. By then a nice beard started, so he annouced he would keep it. Son started crying, then sobbing, and pleading with daddy not to have a beard. We couldn't understand it and tried to reason with him. He kept sobbing, "But I don't WANT you to be an UNCLE!" We finally figured out he thought his daddy would then no longer be his daddy, but his uncle. I love the way kids reason things out in their view of the world. (Son is now 24 with a full beard, looks just like his father, and is an uncle but not yet a daddy!)