Popping up on the grid

Yesterday we received something we had been waiting for ever since the birth: Ella's "personnummer," the Norwegian national ID number analogous to the American Social Security number. Now that she's got a number, we can start all the rest of the paperwork:

1) registering her name with the authorities. In Norway the hospital submits a notice of birth to the authorities, who then issue a personnummer and ask the parents what name the child should have. We're returning the form with her name by mail today and should have a birth certificate by next week.

2) getting her an American passport. Anyone with a claim on American citizenship needs their own US passport to travel to the States, while foreign children of that age can typically travel on their parents' passports. This means, amongst other things, that we've got to go to the US embassy in Oslo at some point soon and get a record of birth abroad filed and submit the paperwork and photographs for a passport and SSN. Getting a passport picture of an infant less than a month old should be fun.

3) applying for a kindergarten slot. The Norwegian government has committed to have a kindergarten slot open for all kids from the age of 1 year up to when they start school so the parents can return to work on either a full- or part-time basis. Getting into your first-choice kindergarten, however, means applying as early as possible. We applied to our top four online this morning over breakfast.

The personnummer, however, was not the first time Ella popped up on the grid the Lone Gunmen and John Connor try so hard to avoid. We already got her an airline ticket to the States for Christmas, where eager grandparents and family await her arrival. She got her very own confirmation code for her infant ticket, and I was so proud of her.