Reagan Mittendorf, Zoie Joseph, Emily Jones and Brittany Crouch will blow out their birthday candles on their birthday - for the first time in four years.

The four have one thing in common - each was born on a leap year. And as you know, Feb. 29 comes around only once every 1, 460 days.

Reagan will be 8 on Feb. 29 (or 2, depending who is counting). The Bluffton second grader says she will have a party with some of her friends - actually the party already took place. She told her parents that she wanted to go out and eat on her birthday and that's part of the family celebration on the 29th.

Reagan's mother says when she was 4 she was kidded about only being 1, and she didn't like it. Now she understands it.

Zoie will be 12 on Feb. 29 (or 3, depending who is counting). The Bluffton fifth grader says she usually celebrates her birthday on Feb. 28. When friends ask what day she was born, she usually answers "February 28."

"My friends used to kid me about my birthday," she laughs. "Saying that I was born on Feb. 28 makes it a lot simpler."

Emily will be 16 on Feb. 29 (or 4, depending who is counting.) The Bluffton High School sophomore has a special reason to celebrate this year's birthday. "Now I can get my driver's license," she said. "I've already had my 40 hours driving time and will take my driver's test on March 10."

Emily says that coincidentally both she and Zoie were born in Kenton. "Both our dad's graduated from Kenton High School, and when Zoie was a baby I held her," Emily recalls about their first meeting.

Brittany will be 24 on Feb. 29 (or 6, depending who is counting). She is a STNA at Mennonite Memorial Home, where she has worked for the past five years. "I'm from Ada and there was one other student in my graduating class born on Feb. 29," she said.

"Whenever I tell people I was born on Feb. 29 everyone has a 'whole list of questions' they ask me," Brittany said.

And as Brittany, said, the really great thing about being a leap year baby is that "I"ll be young forever!"