The Zaisers 'Take Five'
Twins' birthday won't come every year
From the Journal Sentinel
Posted: March 2, 2004
Jacob and Anneka Zaiser have plenty of time to plan their next birthday party. The twins were born at
St. Joseph Medical Center on Sunday night, Feb. 29. As in Leap Day. As in, one birthday every four
years. Jacob arrived first, at 9:53 p.m. weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.
His sister came into the world nine minutes later, weighing 6 ounces less but measuring an inch longer.
The Zaisers, Jim and Erika, of Wauwatosa have a son, Hansen, who has a birthday every year on May 21.
This year, he turns 3. Between feedings, their mother took a few questions from reporter Meg
Kissinger.
Q. You know these kids are going to want a birthday every year like all of their friends. When will you
celebrate?
A. Hmmm. We haven't figured that out yet. I guess they were born closer to March 1 than Feb. 28. We'll
have to see. We'll have a party every year but on their actual birthday, every four years, we'll have a really
big celebration. My mom is researching it on the Internet.
Q. The Internet?
A. Yeah, there's a Web site dedicated to people born on Leap Day.
Q. Do you think they'll resent their birthday?
A. Probably for the first several years. But when they're 50 (121/2 by their calendar), they'll probably be
kinda psyched.
Q. Did you plan this?
A. No! They weren't due until March 16.
Q. Do you think they'll be Brewers fans, or will they root for the Twins?
A. (A pause, then a groan.) I hadn't thought of that.
Some Leap Day Facts
-A person has a one in 1,461 chance of being born on Feb. 29.
-There are 4 million so-called Leapers in the world, about 200,000 in the United States.
-Famous Leapers: Rapper Ja Rule (born in 1976) and Pope Paul III (1468).
-What's the deal with February anyway? According to legend, Julius Caesar ordered the calendar in 45 B.C.
to conform with his mathematicians' theories that it takes 365.25 days for the Earth to make a complete
rotation of the sun. Fifty years later, Roman Emperor Augustus stole the last day of February to add on to
August so that August, a month named for him, would have 31 days.
On the Web: www.leapzine.com
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