How have you changed in the past 3 months?

I'm glad you asked!

1. I have developed seasonal allergies to whatever blooms here in the fall. After a "oh sh*t I'm allergic to dust mites and they're in our mattress" scare, we have determined I am just allergic to the normal stuff. Still pretty horrible.

2. I have lost 10 lbs! Without trying! Baby weight finally leaving after 19 months. This is a very cool and very frustrating consequence of being sick for a month, eating smaller portions, and carrying 35-lb children around on your back. The few clothes I brought no longer fit, including the brand new pair of shorts that my mom and I argued about over the size (she swore I should get the smaller ones and I demured). I feel frumpy every time I walk out the door. And I want to buy new clothes, but finding time to go shopping without the family is hard.

3. I'm building really awesome relationships with my students. Rad.

4. I love my husband more. We went out last night (without kids until 11!) and I could only think about how much more I love him because of this experience. He has always been supportive of anything I wanted to do, but he has taken on the role of a house husband with relish. He cooks. He cleans. He gets up early with the girls. He doesn't get mad when I have to work for the 4th night in a row. He puts up with my bad moods. He tries to learn Chinese and find the cool parts of the city for us. He just jumped in, by my side, smiling, into this crazy city that is now home. And I'm finding I don't have the vocabulary to really express what I mean. But wow, how I love this man.

5. I understand less of what my child says as she learns to speak. As Penny learns English, she is also learning Chinese. Harper too. But Penny has a Chinese nanny 2 days a week (for $15 a day!) and is learning a lot of Chinese from her. We went walking last week and Penny pointed to a little orange a little boy had and said something. The grandparents with this boy went crazy over the fact that Penny said something and repeated it over and over excitedly. I still have no clue what she said. Apparently, it was Chinese.

6. I'm living in China!!!! Yeah, still new, still amazing.

How have you changed since I left? Would love to hear.