Happy 1/5 Birthday to Harriet!

I just finished typing up the last few pages of the first section of my novel. This means that roughly a fifth of my rough draft is completed. I can already see that major revisions will be necessary, but it's good enough for now. I'm excited about moving on to the next section where Harriet will be a little older and the themes a little more complex.
The longer the manuscript becomes, the more this project takes on a feeling of certainty. I may never publish Harriet, but I'm very likely to complete the rough draft. Once the rough draft is completed I know myself well enough to know that I will be unable to resist editing. I love editing. It's a bit of a challenge not to dive into the editing of the first section now, but if I do I'll regret it. The other parts of the book will let me know where I need to bring certain characters forward and other things that I don't know now. In any case it's very pleasurable to watch the spiderwebs of plot and character become an ink and paper draft. I could get into this.
We found out that my other baby, the little one kicking around in my womb, is a boy. The pleasure his little antics give me is something I'd forgotten about pregnancy. This is our first surprise, and I'm discovering that surprises can be very sweet.