Local ‘leaplings’ celebrate real birthdays every four years
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Gabriella Prolenski poses with her mom, Katie Prolenski, at their Connellsville home. Gabriella is turning 4, but its the first day she has had the opportunity to celebrate on her real birthday, Feb. 29.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Addie Ciez of Uniontown is celebrating her 12th birthday Saturday. Ciez is a 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby born on Feb. 29 in a leap year.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Gabriella Prolenski of Connellsville poses with her drawing of a smiley face. She said she鈥檚 excited for her birthday Feb. 29, although she doesn鈥檛 quite understand how special it is.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Gabriella Prolenski scribbles on her white board at her Connellsville home Wesdnesday. She is a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby who was born on Feb. 29 in a Leap Year. She turns 4 Saturday.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Addie Ciez of Uniontown practices her balance beam routine at the YMCA in Uniontown Tuesday. She is turning 12 Feb. 29, the third opportunity she has had to celebrate her birthday on her actual date of birth.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Addie Ciez of Uniontown practices her floor routine at the YMCA in Uniontown Tuesday. She is a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby who was born on Feb. 29 in a Leap Year. She turns 12 Saturday.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Addie Ciez practices her balance beam routine at the YMCA in Uniontown Tuesday. She is a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby who was born on Feb. 29 in a Leap Year. She turns 12 Saturday.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Gymnastics coach Jami Smitley spots Addie Ciez while she practices her balance beam routine at the Uniontown YMCA Tuesday. Ciez, of Uniontown, is turning 12 Saturday, which is the third time she has had the opportunity to celebrate her birthday on her actual date of birth.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Addie Ciez of Uniontown practices her routine on the uneven bars at the YMCA in Uniontown Tuesday. She is a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby who was born on Feb. 29 in a Leap Year. She turns 12 Saturday.
Alyssa Choiniere | 缅北禁地
Gabriella Prolenski scribbles on her white board at her Connellsville home Wesdnesday. She is a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby who was born on Feb. 29 in a Leap Year. She turns 4 Saturday.
Gabriella Prolenski knows her birthday is a special day, but she doesn鈥檛 quite understand how special it is.
She was born Feb. 29, 2016, making her a rare 鈥渓eapling,鈥� or a baby born on a Leap Day. Although she is turning 4 Saturday, it is the first time she will celebrate her birthday on her actual date of birth. Her odds of being born on Leap Day were roughly 1 in 1,461, or 0.068%, assuming that birthdays are distributed evenly throughout the year.
鈥淚f you ask her when her birthday is, she鈥檒l tell you Feb. 29. She just doesn鈥檛 know what that means,鈥� said her mom, Katie Prolenski of Connellsville. 鈥淚 keep telling her that it鈥檚 her special birthday, but she hasn鈥檛 gotten that at all. She鈥檚 like, 鈥業t鈥檚 my birthday. Of course it鈥檚 special.'鈥�
Prolenski planned to go all out for her daughter鈥檚 first real birthday. But Gabby had other plans. She went bowling once, loved it and decided she wanted a bowling party. Her large family of about 40 people is gathering to celebrate Saturday.
Gabriella took a break from drawing on her chalkboard for a quick interview. She held up four fingers to say how old she鈥檚 turning. She said she鈥檚 excited to celebrate and show off her bowling skills to her cousin, Lexi. With a mischievous grin, she said she鈥檚 hoping for 鈥渁 little chalkboard鈥� for her birthday, and returned to the one she was using.
Prolenski said her daughter is receiving a special gift for her special birthday 鈥� a refinished vanity that belonged to her great-grandmother. Prolenski鈥檚 mother bought Gabby a special Leap Day birthday shirt to wear to her party, which says 鈥�4鈥� on the front and 鈥�1鈥� on the back.
Addie Ciez of Uniontown is celebrating her third leap birthday, so she鈥檚 accustomed to the questions and the jokes. She brought colorful cupcakes for her gymnastics team at the YMCA Tuesday, and her teammates affectionately teased the Laurel Highlands Middle School 6th grader that she鈥檚 录 her age.
鈥淲e tease her that she鈥檚 turning 3,鈥� said Jami Smitley, Addie鈥檚 gymnastics coach. 鈥淪he actually started with us when she was 4, so she was just a little peanut.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檒l never age,鈥� said her mom, Heather Ciez.
Addie said her friends think it鈥檚 cool that she was born on Feb. 29. Sometimes, she said, they are surprised or concerned about whether she gets an annual birthday.
鈥淭hey would say, 鈥楤ut the 29th doesn鈥檛 come every year!'鈥� she said.
While Addie said she doesn鈥檛 remember her first Leap Day birthday, when she turned 4, she remembers her 8th birthday as extra special, and anticipates this year will be the same.
鈥淭he question we鈥檙e most often asked is, 鈥榃hat day do you celebrate?'鈥� said Heather Ciez.
Both local leaplings celebrate their birthdays on the 28th in non-leap years because they wanted to keep the birthday in February. Addie gets an extra birthday celebration during Leap Years, celebrating on both the 28th and 29th. She said she also gets perks as a leapling with giveaways for her real birthday.
Gabriella will also have an extra celebration this year with her preschool classmates. She鈥檚 bringing cookies to celebrate her birthday on Feb. 28, the day she usually celebrates.
Neither local mom expected to have a baby on such a rare day, and both women said they were initially a bit upset, wondering about any complexities associated with their children鈥檚 rare birth dates.
They have encountered some inconveniences with entering birth dates into online forms. Prolenski said when she tried to buy a plane ticket for Gabriella, there was no option for Feb. 29 until she plugged in the year first. Ciez said she has encountered the problem multiple times, sometimes when her coaches are inputting her daughter鈥檚 date of birth for sports.
鈥淚t says the date is non-existent,鈥� said Heather Ciez.
Ciez鈥檚 due date was on Feb. 28, 2008, and she said her friends teased her that her baby would be born on Leap Day. Her labor was induced Feb. 28, but her baby was not born until 4 a.m. Feb. 29.
鈥淭hey kept teasing me about it, and then it happened,鈥� she said.
Gabriella came early. Her due date was March 12, and Katie Prolenski hadn鈥檛 even considered the possibility her baby might be born on Leap Day.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it was possible,鈥� she said.
She thought she and her daughter might share her March 9 birthday, or that she might give birth on her dad鈥檚 birthday on March 11.
鈥淢y water broke just a little after midnight Feb. 29, the one day I had decided I didn鈥檛 want to have my baby, and that鈥檚 when she decided she was ready,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 like, 鈥業鈥檓 getting my own, really special day.'鈥�