Redmond Mom Celebrates ‘7th’ Leap Year Birthday

February 29th is a day that comes only once every four years during leap year. For most of us, that just means we have one extra day this year, but for those who were born on a leap day, they finally get to celebrate their “real” birthday.

You can’t tell by looking at her, but Cierra Scurlock is among the few who celebrates a birthday every 1,641 days.

“So today I turn 28, but really in leap years, it’s 7,” Scurlock said on Wednesday.

It wasn’t until her teenage years when she realized something wasn’t quite right on the calendar.

“I didn’t understand it until high school, when my mom brought me balloons saying ‘Happy 4th Birthday,’ and thought, it is kind if strange, but I didn’t get it growing up,” Scurlock added.

Now, the Redmond mom embraces her uncommon birthday and tries to cash in on the perks.

“Because I’m 7, I always go to the movies and ask if I can get a discount,” she said. “But it doesn’t work that way.”

But what does work on every year that’s not a leap year — Scurlock has a two-day birthday celebration.

“I celebrate it on the 28th (of February) and March 1st, because people will call me and say, ‘I didn’t know which day to call you’ and then the next day on the first, they do the same thing so I’m like, ‘Okay, well it’s both days.'”

Wednesday also marked something more than just a rare birthday for Scurlock. It’s also the day her husband proposed to her four years ago.

“We were going over the pass and he just picked this random spot, and it was really pretty on a bridge, and he proposed to me on my birthday and it was so romantic and sweet,” she added.

The chances of being born on a leap day is about 1 in 1,500. So Scurlock considers herself a diamond in the rough, and she’s coming to terms with the idea that pretty soon, her daughter is going to pass her up in age.

“Ask anybody who knows me, and I’m just a big kid, like this little girl,” she said. And she’s going to be older than me someday. But today is just a special day, and I’m glad that it’s here, finally.”

We heard from several Central Oregonians who mark their special, unusual birthday in a variety of ways. To all of you, happy birthday!