‘My grandchildren have passed me’: Edmonton leap day babies share their stories

EDMONTON – Feb. 29 is a very special day for some Edmontonians, especially since it only comes by once every four years.

Muriel Oliver turned 72 years old on Monday, but technically speaking she’s only 18.

READ MORE: Five facts about leap year

“I’m the oldest in the family but by [having] a leap year birthday, I’m the youngest now. Just [about] all my grandchildren have passed me,” she said with a laugh.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm the oldest in the family but by [having] a leap year birthday, I'm the youngest now. Just [about] all my grandchildren have passed me," she said with a laugh.

Oliver said she likes having the unique birthday and uses it to hold family reunions on her actual birthday.

Oliver enjoyed having a leap day birthday growing up and has advice for other leap day babies in the Capital Region.

“Just treasure it,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Just treasure it," she said.

RELATED: Leap year 2016: What is it and why do leap years exist?

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It is advice that Lyn Buck will have to pass along to her son Philip – he was born 19 minutes after midnight on leap day 2016.

“We thought it might be a possibility. But I don’t think we thought that would happen. So it was pretty exciting,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We thought it might be a possibility. But I don't think we thought that would happen. So it was pretty exciting," she said.

Lyn and her husband, Scott, already have five children, all boys, and Philip is their sixth son.

Three of the other boys have birthdays on Groundhog Day, Thanksgiving Day and Family Day, and Lyn said it will be fun to figure out how to celebrate Philip’s birthday.

There are actually 365-and-a-quarter days in every year, which is why one full day is added every four years.

Physics professor Mathieu Dumberry said that extra day helps keep the calendar in check and prevents it from drifting off course.

“The reason we do this is such that the seasons keep in sync. That is, Jan. 31 stays in the winter,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The reason we do this is such that the seasons keep in sync. That is, Jan. 31 stays in the winter," he said.

Christina Fluet said it is often very fun to explain to people her daughter Teagan is a leap day baby.

“They say, ‘What do you write on reports when you fill them out?’ Feb. 29. That’s her birthday. There just isn’t one all the time,” she said with a laugh.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They say, 'What do you write on reports when you fill them out?' Feb. 29. That's her birthday. There just isn't one all the time," she said with a laugh.

Fluet said her daughter is too young to understand why having a leap day birthday is significant.

“She doesn’t fully understand the meaning of the leap year being only every four years. When people bug her, she’s like, ‘No I’m not one, I’m four.’ We’re like, ‘Well this is your first birthday technically.’ But she’s like, ‘No, I’m four. I’m a big girl.’”

There is an exception to the rule. Leap years occur every four years except when the year is divisible by 100 but not 400. For example, the year 2000 is a leap year but the years 1900, 1800 and 1700 were not leap years.