2 years ago at this time, Irene and I were selecting photos from our maternity shoot to upload onto Facebook. Less than 2 hours later, my waters broke and little Ms Zoey Chiong was on her way. We were lucky to have squeezed in photos when we did. Another day and we would have completely missed the chance. She arrived safe and loud, screaming the moment she was pulled out from my tummy, and didn't stop while the nurses weighed and did her scores. The nurse who carried her over to show me commented on her healthy lungs. Even though she was a bit tiny, she was perfect - 2.44 kg, 45 cm arriving on Monday, 11 March 2013 at 8.28 am.
The past 24 months have been everything I hoped for from Motherhood and more. While there have definitely been challenges, it has been amazingly rewarding to wake up every morning with this little person next to me. She has changed from the tiny bundle into a walking, talking little human who has her own distinct personality.
So today we gave her a birthday treat by bringing her to Port of Lost Wonder ( http://www.polw.com.sg/ ) (POLW) on Sentosa. Initially we had planned on bringing her to Universal Studios ( http://www.rwsentosa.com/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore ) so she could see her beloved Elmo. In fact I had seen someone do the Sesame Street breakfast ( http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/ja-JP/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore/NewYork/SesameStreet ) and it looked awesome. However, after finding out how much it costs (Family Admission Package at $280!), we decided to can that idea and do POLW instead.
Fabulous choice.
POLW only costs $10/child on weekdays and $15/child on weekends. Adults enter free! And because I am a PAssion Club member, there was 20% off, so we only paid $8 for our whole family. Much better than paying $280.
The main attraction at POLW is this fantastic water playground in the shape of a pirate ship. It has 3 slides with differing levels of difficulty, multiple water cannons, buckets and plenty of shallow waters for splashing fun.
The pirate ship where Zoey spent most of today with her Mommy running after her.
We got there when it opened at 10 and only left when they were about to close at 6 pm. The best thing about going there on a weekday is that it was relatively empty. I estimate there were a maximum of 15 families there the entire day. Zoey would not have been able to enjoy herself as much if there were too many older kids around. She is too young to keep up with the big kids and jostle for space with them. So bringing her today instead of on the weekend was definitely a great choice.
Other than the big pirate ship, POLW has plenty of open space for kids to run around. They have a huge sand pit, a grassy area with huge sponge building blocks, a shady area with mats for jumping and tumbling and a restaurant that serves food at reasonable prices. On top of that, they have different kid activities every hour. I don't think Zoey had time to be bored. It was also great that I could park myself at a table near whichever area we were using, enjoy the sea breeze and work while watching Zoey and Irene conquer each new adventure. I even got to join in at some parts.
Some of the many different activities Zoey enjoyed today.
So thank you POLW for making today a fabulous birthday treat for Zoey.
I also want to thank Kerry from Red Bus Photography ( https://www.facebook.com/redbusphotography ) who came out this morning and captured some beautiful moments for us. She specialises in capturing love, light and live and I think she does it very well indeed. This is the first shot she has shared with us from the shoot today and I am looking forward to the rest of the shots in a few weeks.
Our whole family was pretty much smiling the entire day.