MONROE: Boy celebrates special birthday

By Nicole M. Wells, Special Writer
   MONROE — When Michael Kides was born on Dec. 12, 2000, his mother Adele didn’t realize how significantly the numbers would add up for her son’s birthday 12 years later.
   ”He was due on Dec. 17,” Ms. Kides said. “He was five days early.”
   Ms. Kides said she never thought her son would have a birthday where the date and his age were the same.
   Michael celebrated his 12th birthday with his family and about 50 friends on Wednesday, at the Knights of Columbus hall in Jamesburg.
   There was a DJ and lots of kid-friendly food, such as chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese, Ms. Kides said, as well as a special birthday cake. The cake was actually two separate cakes, one vanilla and one chocolate, in the shape of the numbers one and two.
   Michael’s guests each received commemorative t-shirts to mark the event.
   ”Everybody got shirts that said ‘Mikey’s 12th birthday 12/12/12,’” Ms. Kides said. Michael is an honor roll student at Monroe Township Middle School and is a member of Monroe Recreation’s travel baseball and basketball teams.
   According to his mother, Michael appeared on Good Morning America with 11 other preteens who shared the same birthday.
   ”He was pretty excited,” Ms. Kides said. “I don’t think he realized the significance until everybody made such a big deal about it.”
   Michael is the only one in his group of friends who has had a birthday where the month, day and year are all the same number, Ms. Kides said.
   According to state records, Michael is one of just 361 children born in the state on Dec. 12, 2000, and one of only 39 born in Middlesex County.
   The numbers won’t line up this way again until Dec. 12, 2112.