Leaping for joy

The Our Lady Pre-school pupil, from Cowley, Oxford, was born on February 29, 2004, making her a Leap Year baby.

And because Leap Years only occur every four years, this is technically Mya's first birthday.

Mya's mum, Bobbie Falla, 21, said: "Mya was due to be born on February 23, but she was six days late. My partner Carl and I weren't actually surprised. We'd said: 'What if she's a Leap Year baby?' about two months before - and sure enough she was."

She added: "Mya knows she has a special birthday and she loves it because she ends up having two birthdays, one on the 29th and one on the first of March.

"This year she'll have a party on the 29th and on March 1 we'll all be going to the theatre."

Although Mya and her parents will be celebrating her fourth birthday, Mya is expecting some cards inscribed with a number one.

And one of them will probably come from her grandmother Dawn Carter - who has her own special reason to celebrate Leap Years.

Mrs Carter, 45, from Marshall Road, Cowley, used the 2000 leap year to propose to her then partner, Barry, 59.

She explained: "It was pretty out of character to be honest. I'm not a very lovey dovey person and Barry was really surprised when I popped the question.

"Then he said: Well, you'd better do it properly then - get down on one knee!"

Barry said yes and the couple were married on July 28, 2001.

Mrs Carter said: "A lot of friends were shocked when they found out I'd proposed, but I'm glad I did. Barry thought it was lovely and then Mya, our first grandchild coming on a Leap Year four years later made the date even more special.

"I would recommend proposing to your other half to other women."

Why do we have a Leap Year?

LEAP years are needed so that the calendar stays aligned with the earth's motion around the sun.

A tropical year is actually about 365.2422 days long, so using a calendar with only 365 days would result in an error of 0.2422 days or almost six hours per year.

After 100 years, this calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the seasons.

But by adding an extra day, making it a Leap Year, approximately every fourth year, the difference between the calendar and the seasons is reduced significantly, and the calendar follows the seasons much more closely.

In the Gregorian calendar, which is used by most modern countries, the following rules decide which years are leap years: Every year divisible by 4 is a Leap Year.

But every year divisible by 100 is NOT a Leap Year.

Unless the year is also divisible by 400, then it is still a Leap Year.

Got that?

This means that year 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are not Leap Years, while year 2000 and 2400 are.

While keeping harmony with the seasons might not be the first thing on most people's minds when it comes to Leap Years, creating harmony with a loved one, might.

And Leap Year is the traditional time that women can propose marriage.

In many of today's cultures, it is acceptable for a woman to propose marriage to a man.

But that hasn't always been the case.

When the rules of courtship were stricter, women were only allowed to pop the question on one day every four years. That day was February 29.

It is believed this tradition was started in fifth century Ireland when St Bridget complained to St Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose.

According to legend, St Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February during the Leap Year.

In 1288, Scotland passed a law that allowed women to propose marriage to the man of their choice in that year.

They also made it law that any man who declined a proposal in a leap year must pay a fine.

The fine could range from a kiss to payment for a silk dress or a pair of gloves.

But Leap Year isn't popular in all cultures.

There is a Greek superstition that claims couples have bad luck if they marry during a Leap Year.