High school 4 year olds ready for Leap Year birthday parties
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

Leap Year Birthdays El Campo High Schoolers Daniel Dominguez and Allison Watson will technically turn 4 years old Friday as they celebrate their Leap Year birthdays.

A couple of El Campo sophomores have widely different plans to celebrate their "fourth" birthdays this Friday.

Each was born on Leap Day - Feb. 29, 1992, so technically they've only seen their true birthdays come back around three times so far.

Allison Watson, daughter of Shane and Jody Watson, said she first figured out something was unusual about her birthday around the age of 6.

"I never understood," she said. "Then I wondered if I was, like, a negative age or something. But in second grade, my teacher made me stand up and she explained it to the whole class."

Her classmate Daniel Dominguez said he was 8 years old when he first realized he had an unusual birth date.

"My birthday came around and they said, 'You're 2 years old right now,'" said the son of Abel and Carmen Dominguez. "I was freaking out. I thought I wouldn't get presents every year."

L-N Photos by Brenda Sommer

He said his brother Abel, 19, is "always making fun of me" when the two work out in a weight room. They share a love of power-lifting, Daniel said, and while his brother does tease him about being too young to lift, "it's fun."

Watson also gets teased by family members.

"They say I'm not old enough to have a vehicle," she said. "It used to make me so mad. They said they'll buy me Hot Wheels instead of a real car."

During non-Leap Years, both teens have been in the habit of celebrating their birthdays on the 28th.

"But last year we celebrated on the 28th and the 1st, with different sides of the family," Watson said.

"I got twice as many presents."

Now that she's about to be 16 years old, Watson said she'll finally get the answer to a question that's kept her puzzled for years.

"I wonder how they'll do it on my driver's license," she said. "That's one of the main questions people ask me. Will they put the 28th? I'll find out Friday."

Dominguez said he plans to celebrate this year's milestone in a low-key way.

"I'll probably just go out and party with my friends," he said.

Watson, on the other hand, has far bigger plans, combining a Disney theme to honor her fourth birthday with a more grown-up Sweet 16, both held simultaneously at Balcer's Camp on FM 441.

"My boyfriend is buying me a Cinderella cake," she said.

"I'm buying another cake, pink and green and slanted, with sparklers. It's unique. I saw it on the Internet."

Watson and Dominguez both said they've embraced their unusual birth dates, and enjoy the status.

"I like being original," Watson said. "It makes me feel original to have my birthday on this day."