Aha! My years of dissecting what goes into a cry-face have come to hopefully good use if she lets you touch her crying face.
The tear ducts that keep our eyeballs moisturized go into overdrive, causing an excess of watery liquid to collect and flow out of the eyes down the face. If the crier wipes their face, their cheeks may be wet with tears mostly just smeared around.
Her shoulders shake because she can't control her breathing. Strong sobs contract the lungs/diaphragm involuntarily which often result in shaking of the body and shoulders, contractions of the belly, and assorted gasping noises.
A crying face will often have like, the brows slightly raised and scrunched together and the inner brows may curve slightly upward toward the hairline. Eyes will often be at least half-closed with the eyes wrinkling together similarly to a squint, if not squeezed shut entirely. There's generally wrinkling/scrunching of the forehead. The mouth may be open and curved upwards or downwards and may feel very much like a laughing face were it not for the other cues.
If she's not making much noise but she's shaking a lot, she's suppressing the sound of her sobs which may make them that much stronger.
I hope this is helpful and informative and what you were looking for.
Last edited by PhoebeOnThePhone (January 19, 2022 5:22 am)