Oh goodness gracious.
Okay, I agree that this is overexposed, as well as the fact that it is too harshly lit. The light is following off before his eyes, so as you can see, there is a potential for nice catchlights, his eyes are just dark and 'blah' and the viewers' eyes are drawn toward the blown out section. By pulling him farther away from the light source (presumably a window) or by having it more evenly lit, your camera (or yourself) could meter it for better overall skin tones.
Also, the amount of clutter in the background takes away from his sweet expression - I would also recommend not taking pictures with the soother.
Anyways, your BW conversion looks very nice and smooth.