When Your Birthday is on Leap Day, When do You Celebrate?

Decisions. Decisions. When your birthday is on leap day–that extra day added to the month of February every four years–you have a conundrum: What day do you celebrate your birthday the other three years?

For that decision was made by his parents before he could even offer up an opinion. They’ve always celebrated his birthday on Feb. 28. Except, of course in leap years, like this one, when he can have his birthday on the real day, Feb. 29.

"It just seemed more natural to keep it in February," said his mother Dina Rodrigues on why they picked February over March to celebrate his birthday in off years. "When he was a baby it just sounded right."

What does Jace think about it?

"Luckily, now Jace says that it still makes sense to him to have it on the 28th because he was born on the day before March first," his mother said.

Rodrigues said she didn’t think about having a leap day baby when Jace was born. She was admitted to the hospital when he came into the world a little prematurely (he was actually due at the end of March) and she said she really had no concept of the date at the time.

"I didn't even realize it was a leap day until a nurse brought it up," she said. "What is even extra special about Jace is that he's a millennium baby too."

Jace is friends with a set of twin girls who are also "leapers" as Rodrigues calls kids whose birthdays are on leap day. The girls celebrate their birthdays on March 1, because their mother's birthday is on March 2.

"As a parent, I really enjoy the uniqueness of his birthday and find it very interesting when you meet other leapers," she said. "Everyone always wants to know how old you 'really' are and it's always fun to joke about how you're actually 'younger' than everyone else your age."

Every year she gets Jace a special "leap day" themed t-shirt with funny sayings like "I celebrate mine on 2/29" written on it.

It may be fun for her (and what mother doesn’t want to keep her babies as young as they can for as long as they can?) but Jace isn’t as keen on all the jokes.

"Tons, tons," Jace said when asked how many jokes he actually hears about his birthday. "It gets annoying sometimes, but I don't really care."

It's also a great excuse for a special party every four years.

On Wednesday, Jace will be wearing a shirt that says “This year is really my birthday” at his party. According to his mother, everyone at the party will be wearing green.

"In honor of the frog that 'leaps,'" she said.

How does Jace feel about having his birthday disappear three out of four years?

"I celebrate it on the 28th so I still get my birthday," he said. "Just not on the day that I really want it to be."