LAFAYETTE, La. — Leap day happens every four years to line up with the calendar year and the solar year. The solar year is the time it takes for the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun, is approximately 365.24 days long. Without the addition of leap days, the calendar would slowly drift out of alignment with the seasons.
For leap day babies, this means they only get to officially celebrate their birthday once every four years.
While some leap day babies embrace the uniqueness of their birthdate and enjoy the novelty of celebrating on February 29th, others may feel a sense of frustration or even sadness at not having a birthday every year like most people.
For residents like Sailer Carrier who are born on February 29th, they end up with two different ages.
While Sailer may have celebrated her "second" birthday in 2020, by the year 2024, she would only be considered "eight" years old in terms of leap years.
KATC met her at Moncus Park and asked her how it feels being a leap year baby.
"My real age? Two,” Carrier says.
She has mixed feelings about only getting to celebrate birthday every four years.
“Kind of sad," said Carrier. "Because everybody else gets to have a birthday expect me.”
Her mother Laci Paradine, however makes sure her daughter feels extra special when it comes to her leap year birthday.
“She makes it special and she gives me a lot of gifts and she makes it fun,” she says.
For Carrier, she’s just happy to be able to celebrate her birthday after waiting for so long.
“Good because my real age is gonna be 8!” she says.
