Four in one

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman/The Gazette

NORTH LIBERTY - Jazmin Day will have two birthday parties this year. And they will be big.

“We're going all out,” says Larissa Murdock, Jazmin's mom. “She's very girlie; she's all about pink and Disney princesses, so everything will be princess and we'll have a huge princess cake.”

After all, it isn't every day a little girl turns four and one at the same time.

Jazmin is a Leap Day baby, one of the estimated 187,000 people in the United States who celebrates a calendar birthday every four years.

Leap Day was created in response to the speed at which the Earth rotates around the sun - 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. The extra hours add up over the years, so an extra day was occasionally added to the calendar to make the solar year and man-made calendar match.

It was the Romans who first designated Feb. 29 as a leap day. A more precise formula was adopted in the 16th century when the Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the calculations to include a leap day in years only divisible by four.

Of course, Jazmin is too young to worry about the science behind her birthday. She doesn't realize her actual birth date isn't on the calendar every year.

“Right now, she doesn't really care, as long as she has a party,” Murdock laughs.

Murdock believes her daughter was destined to be a Leap Day baby. All her daughters' birthdays fall on unique days. Jazmin's older sisters celebrate their birthdays on Lincoln's Birthday, Feb. 12, and Sept. 11.

Murdock's original due date was supposed to be March 1 and she was scheduled to be induced on Feb. 29, but her contractions started on their own that morning.

“I think it's pretty neat that she was going to be born that day either way,” Murdock says.

So far, Jazmin's parents haven't encountered headaches because of their daughter's unusual birthday. Of course, soon-to-be 4-year-olds don't have to worry about getting a license, voting or playing the slots in Las Vegas.

She hasn't even registered for kindergarten yet, which could be an adventure as more school districts turn to online registration programs.

Sometimes, registering on a website using a Feb. 29 birthday will result in “Invalid birth date.” The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies in Oregon, a non-profit advocacy group, offers free software that Web designers can use to avoid the error message.

When it comes to special and unique birth dates, Dr. Joy Olson of OB-GYN Associates in Cedar Rapids hasn't had many requests for Leap Day births.

“It's not a date that most people choose,” she says.

Olson says Nov. 11, 2011, was a popular date for labor inductions, as are birth dates that line up perfectly, such as Jan. 2, 2003, or 01/02/03.

“I think the biggest hurdle is people aren't really sure how to celebrate a Leap Day birthday,” Olson says.

Leap year babies typically choose either Feb. 28 or March 1 to celebrate their birthday in years that aren't leap years.

This year, though, Jazmin will have one party today and another this weekend. Likewise, her cake will have two candles - a ‘1' and a ‘4.'

“It hasn't caused us any problems yet,” Murdock says. “I think it makes her special and unique.”

Comments: (319) 398-8434; meredith.hines-dochterman@sourcemedia.net

 

Reason for the season

Leap Day happens every four years - almost. It's every four years except years ending with “00” that are not divisible by 400. Except 2000 was a leap year.

Ladies night

According to an Old Irish legend, Saint Bridget struck a deal with Saint Patrick to allow women to propose to men - and not just the other way around - every four years on Leap Day. This is believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balances the calendar.

Birds of a feather

People born on Feb. 29 are all invited to join The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies.

For the record books

A Norwegian family named Henriksen from Andenes holds the official record of number of children born on Feb. 29 with three children born on Feb. 29 in 1960, 1964 and 1968.

A magical day

Both Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park will be open for 24 hours today, a first for the popular destinations.

Famous Feb. 29 babies

Some celebrity Leap Year birthdays:

1916 - Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)

1924 - Al Rosen, American baseball player

1924 - Carlos Humberto Romero, former president of El Salvador

 1960 - Anthony (Tony) Robbins, American motivational speaker

 1964 - Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player

 1972 - Antonio Sabato Jr., Italian-born actor

 1976 - Ja Rule, American rapper and actor

 1980 - Chris Conley, American musician and songwriter/composer