Thursday, August 7, 2008

11 Months Old and We Still Don't Have an SSN

Josie is 11 months old today and that is so close to 1 year. I just don't know where the time is going. On top of feeling like my baby is growing so fast that I'm missing it all, we found out that Public Heath did not apply for a SSN when we went in for her birth certificate. For Dema, all it took was going in to Public Health, applying for a birth cert., checking the box which said something about wanting a social security number and a few weeks/months later we received the SSN card in the mail. This has been a pain in the butt from the beginning with Josie and it is getting worse. After Rob spent a couple days talking to various people at Public Heath, the end result is that they don't have to file the part of the form where it asks for a SSN so they didn't send the request to the social security office and they don't have to so they won't do it now. The social security people need more than a birth certificate to issue a SSN (unless it is requested by Public Heath) so we have to have a certified record from the hospital. Well, as you know we are in this mess because we had Josie at home (still worth it and getting more worth it by the minute) so we don't have hospital records, thus we are hoping the time she's been to the ped. will suffice as evidence that she is a person ("a person is a person no matter how small", but only if they are born in a hospital according to the US government apparently). We can't seem to get a straight answer from the pediatrician's office on what they need from us to get a certified copy of her records...sigh. Wish us luck that at some point, "they" will see fit to grant Josie a social security number. I am done caring if we can get a break on our taxes, I just want her to be able to some day have a bank account, get a job, those types of things. We have quite a few friends who've had their babies at home and none of them have experienced this problem. I guess we are just lucky like that.
On a happier note, Josie is an utter joy and too adorable for words. She is getting very good at communicating her needs and she is very sensitive to the needs of others. If the boys need a hug, she is the first to know this and give them one. She does this cute little kiss/lip smack to tell us she would like to eat food. I have pretty much given up on baby signs with her, but it doesn't seem to matter...she has her own way of communication which is the point anyway. She smiles a lot and is very curious to try new things. She still eats anything and everything. I was at our local health food store yesterday and she occupied herself with eating the fresh kale and green onions in our cart while I finished the shopping. She ate basil leaves in our garden today and she routinely will eat citrus fruits with the rind and sometime banana peels. Most of the time she will not eat something unless it is handed to her by someone in the family. I can tell she knows a lot more words. I forgot how much great this age can be. I just want to bottle every fun minute. She is still cruising instead of really walking, although she will take a step or two unassisted.Today we were at our local coop for the last time in their current location. The coop is currently in an old church building and once a week the nursery is staffed so shoppers can leave their kids while they shop. It has been a wonderful time for us to hang out with like-minded parents, meet new children, and support our local coop. I'm very sad and excited at the same time that the coop will be moving to a bigger space where there will no longer be an area for childcare. It is really a shame since a lot of parents new to the area were able to make connections at the coop and feel part of the community quicker. Alas, things do change. Anyway, Josie climbed up on one of the chairs today and sat for a long time happily watching her big brothers and the other children play. I almost thought she was going to fall asleep there, but she got down eventually and joined in the fun.
The boys asked today what we are going to do for Josie's birthday (I really am in denial that it is only a month away!). I usually do a very small family thing for the first birthdays, but Josie loves a party so I may have to do something bigger this year. She loves music and dances all the time. Our friend Stef sent a CD for the kids before we went on vacation because she is so sweet and thoughtful like that and Josie and Dema especially are enjoying it.

Tonight we were all in the kitchen making diner and listening to music. Josie was in my arms rocking out to Nickelback. I don't think I have any video of Josie and I must take some of her dancing. Diner was black beans with onion, kale, and carrots over brown rice, nooch tofu (lightly fried tofu with a little Bragg's amino acids and nutritional yeast), and a mango smoothie (frozen mangoes, rice milk (I would use coconut milk next time), cashews, orange/mango/carrot juice, fresh pineapple, banana, vanilla soy yogurt).
Oh and while we were on vacation, her third tooth finally broke through!

7 comments:

Leighann of Multi-Minding Mom said...

Don't give up on baby signs. Some babies don't start doing signs until 12-14 months. We have taught ours a few signs and he uses them.

With our daughter, we taught her some basics and then she taught herself all the signs in four different baby signs board books we had. She has an incredible vocabulary and I really believe the research on baby signs (that they will understand the concept of language sooner).

We had to go into SS office and file a second time because the person at Carle didn't put our paperwork through like she should have. So it's not just home births. I think we took in the certificate of live birth which we got at public health.

VeganLinda said...

Leeanthro, good to know about the SS office. I wonder why they said on the phone that a birth cert. isn't enough? One thing we have found is that no one seems to know at any of the three places (Public Health, SS office, and Carle) what is needed for this issue. Rob has talked to several different people at each place and gets a different answer or people are on vacation who have the answers, etc.

We did baby signs with my now 8 year old and with my now 4 year old. Parker took to baby signs and loved them, Dema wasn't interested at all but started to talk in sentences very early. Of the two, we get more comments about Dema's large vocab (although we have people comment on both of them) so I'm not really worried either way. I think baby signs are a great way to help a child communicate if they are frustrated, but if they find alternative ways to communicate and not get frustrated it is just as good, IMO. I'm still open to using signs with her if she shows interest or frustration.

Meat-free Mike said...

Welcome back to Chambana! Looks like you all had a great vacation! Josie-JoJo IS so adorable - glad to know she enjoys music and dancing. My little guy (2.5 yrs.) is highly motivated to dance and sing now - anything from the Beatles to Johnny Cash to Louis Armstrong! Little ones are really GREAT! I wouldn't trade the experience for ANYTHING! Good luck with the SSN snafu - I don't really know what to say as I've never encountered this before. Ours just went through the usual hospital system. It is too bad the new co-op won't have daycare. Maybe it could be added at a later date if there's enough interest? Nonetheless, I can't wait for the new store to open!

Misc said...

How cute is your Josie? Such a doll and almost makes me want to have another. Almost.

Sorry you're having such a hard time getting Josie a SSN.

My kids just weren't that interested in signing, though both loved to use the sign for "more".

Your food looks delish - especially the smoothie.

Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

She is beautiful!

I can't believe (well, of course I can - it's the government) that you are having so much trouble with her SSN.

I wish we had a co-op around here. We are always behind the times...

VeganLinda said...

Mike,

Thanks! Kids make life so much more interesting. We (mainly Nora) are working on doing a child care thing at the IMC for the co-op once a week so we can keep it going, but I don't know if it will work out with insurance. We will see!

Misc. and CV,
Thanks!

Stef said...

Josie is so amazing, I am missing her grow up so fast, I can't believe she is going to be a year! The only sign Oliver does is "I'm done", he waves his hands in front of him, and now says "I'm done". He does it while he is throwing his food on the ground or if we have been on a long bike ride and he wants out. He still refuses to sign for hungry or drink, but we know him well enough to know what he wants. He will also do "I'm done" when he is tired and ready for a nap or bed. Some babies will just communicate their own way, but we always seem to know what they want. Oliver is dancing now too, so awesome. I hope we get to see each other soon and get our babies together!