... use this anyways?

$datestamp = date("d-m-Y", $now);
list($current_day, $current_month,$current_year)= explode("-" , $datestamp);
list($birth_year, $birth_month, $birth_day) = explode("-" , date('Y-m-d',$birthday));

Why u didn't set the current date same way as the birthday date? ;)