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News people get to do a Leap Year story only once every four years, and Q was not about to let the chance slip away.
So a few weeks ago we asked Leap Day babies to tell us how they celebrate. We heard from dozens of you, from
88-year-old Carmella Scamardi to the mother of 4-year-old Madeline Block.

You told us of the many advantages -- people tend to remember your birthday, for one. We learned of a few disadvantages
too -- that the fame that Leap-hood brings is a double-edged sword, and that date-of-birth confusion can work against you.

But if nothing else, Leap Day babies, or Leapers, tell us their birthdays are always memorable. (By the way, the term
Leapers doesn't appear to be too common, at least in these parts. But it is used by the Honor Society of Leap Year Day
Babies, so we will too for convenience' sake.)

A common theme is to treat the official birthday as if it were the real-time birthday -- for instance, have a party for a
16-year-old that's designed for a 4-year-old. That's what Monica Idstein of Valparaiso, Ind., had four years ago. "It was
very funny," Monica said, "but the gifts [Barbies and the like] were not as fun."

When she turned 32, Judy Keller of Winnetka had a similar party where the guests dressed as 8-year-olds. "I was most
impressed with the 40-something man who could still fit in his Boy Scout uniform -- and most distressed by the gift of a
gerbil."

Q likes the Leapers who enjoy messing with people. Elissa Weissberg of Skokie tells her kids' friends her Leap Year
age and makes them figure it out.

And hats off to Burr Ridge resident Scamardi's late husband, Steve. For her 64th birthday, "he went to a jewelry store
and said he wanted to purchase a necklace ... for his wife who 'just turned 16.' You can imagine the surprised look on
the salesperson's face, since he was 63 years old at the time!"

Read on for more Leap Day baby stories.

What are the odds?

Leapers, having already beaten the odds by being born on Feb. 29, seem to invite coincidence. Several wrote in to say
they shared birthdays with relatives.

Jennifer Lund of Chicago reports that at Willowbrook School in Glenview, she is one of three Leapers on the staff of about
50.

Scarier than that is the tale of Madeline Block, age 1/4.

"Strangely, when I was pregnant with her, my husband and I chose a gender-neutral frog wallpaper for her bedroom,"
wrote mom Marta Segal Block of Oak Park. "Other, unrequested frog gifts and accessories began arriving from people
who had no idea about the wallpaper. When she was born on Leap Day, we began calling her 'Froggy,' and it seemed
almost pre-ordained."

Spookiest of all is the story told by Peter Brouwer, co-founder of the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, who lives
on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He once met a man from Belgium who was born the same minute as he. Not
only that, but as they talked they learned that they had visited the same town in India a few months apart -- and stayed
at the same hotel.

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Big plans for a big day

This year, Sally Tuozzo of Elk Grove Village has already celebrated; last month she shared a Sweet 16 party with her
granddaughter, who turned 16 for real in December.

Dawn Desjardins of Libertyville is not a Leaper, but she's marking the release of her children's book "Leopold's Long
Awaited Leap Year Birthday" (Artistic Ventures, $22.95), which both celebrates and explains Leap Day birthdays.

Celebrating her "big 0-5" is Jessica Zimmerman of Arlington Heights. Soon, she says, her mother will be hitting the
big 5-0. "Maybe we can reuse the decorations!"

Lorna Johnson of Willowbrook (4/16) is inviting other Leapers to join her this week in Anthony, Texas/N.M. The
self-proclaimed Leap Year capital of the world is holding its sixth Worldwide Leap Year Festival. (Why is Anthony
the Leap Year capital, you ask? Because they thought of it first.)

Other Leapers are traveling too. How many 7-year-olds get to spend their birthday in Las Vegas? That's where Stephanie
Morgan of Chicago is going. Luck-eee!

Debbie Cooper Lorig of Chicago and her husband, Dave, feel they've hit the jackpot, even though they're in Siberia this
week; they're adopting two daughters there.

But why is Laura Schiff (10/40) of Buffalo Grove going to Minnesota? "I've always wanted a ticket stub with my birthday
on it. ... I was willing to fly anywhere in the U.S. to see a band I liked." She found Umphrey's McGee in Minneapolis,
and she's also hitting Mall of America for some "retail therapy." (After all, 40 is 40 even when it's 10.)

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Making it last

Of course, when your birthday comes only once in four years, you're entitled to do it up big. But what about the other 75
percent of the time?

We have to hand it to Nannette Abate (12/48) of Berkeley for being a stickler for accuracy: "When there is no 29th of
February, I really do not celebrate, and it really does not feel like I have a birthday."

But she is in the minority. For most Leapers, the only question in non-Leap Years is not whether to celebrate but when.

Kathy Montana of Wheaton has struggled with this question all of her 15/60 years. She would want to observe her
birthday on March 1 because she was born the day after Feb. 28. Her mother would counter that she was born in February,
not March.

If forced to choose, only 10 percent of our respondents delay gratification until March 1. Forty-five percent favor the 28th
because it's in the birth month. Just as many, though, make it easy and pick both.

Marianne Abrahamson of Cedarburg, Wis., takes it even further -- admirably, in our view. She starts around Feb. 15 and
goes till March 10.

"[My husband] is thrilled when there is an actual Leap Day on the calendar and we only have one day to celebrate."

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It's not all cake and presents

Having a Leap Day birthday is not without its problems. It created an instant rift between Melissa Klein of Des Plaines
and her big sister, who turned 5 three days before Melissa arrived prematurely and snagged all the attention. "Most of
my first baby pictures with me and my big sister are of her peering down at me in disgust. Eventually, she got over it."

Linda Myers of Milwaukee had to wait until 12:01 a.m. March 1 for her first legal adult beverage.

Fame as a Leaper came back to haunt Donna Fink of Janesville, Wis. When she was 1/4, she had her picture taken for
the local paper getting a kiss on the cheek from a boy who was born the same day.

"I never saw this boy again until ... I found myself in a class the first day of 7th grade with Michael Colosimo, the boy in
the newspaper picture with me!" Donna and Michael never acknowledged their past to each other until a class reunion
decades later.

But all in all, Leap Day babies wouldn't have it any other way. Wrote Josh Halpren (4/16) of Baltimore, "It's nice to have
people recognize you for something that you didn't even do!"

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nwatkins@tribune.com