All About Cheetahs

Photo: Mark Dumont (CC BY 2.0)

Anna’s school had a special guest today. Khayam, one of the ambassador cheetahs from the Wildlife Safari, visited together with his keepers. All the kids got to see a cheetah up close and learn about these amazing animals. Here’s some of what they learned …

1) The cheetah is the fastest runner on the planet.

2) It runs 70 miles per hour, and achieves the speed from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds. It runs two times faster than a race horse.

3) A cheetah can cover up to 20 feet in just one stride with its powerful legs.

4) Cheetahs are built for speed with their lean bodies, long legs, and narrow heads.

5) Cheetahs have non-retractable claws with hard pads on the bottom of their paws that give them a strong grip on the ground for running.

6) When cheetahs are running, they use their tails to help them steer and turn in the direction they want to go, like the rudder of a boat.

7) A cheetah’s tail is also essential during fast running because it balances the animal and allows sudden turns which happen often when the prey is trying to escape.

8) Although the cheetah runs very fast, it cannot run for very long. After 400 to 600 yards, a cheetah becomes exhausted and needs to take a rest.

Bloggerhood Etc. 5/19/14

Last Wednesday, May 14th, was Apraxia Awareness Day and a lot of apraxia parents shared their stories on the blogosphere. I share a story of my own along with several others here today in a special Apraxia Awareness edition of Bloggerhood Etc.

“The Lemonade Stand” by David Ozab.

“One Girl’s Journey with Apraxia” by Mary at The iMums.

“Every Child Deserves a Voice” by Karleigh at Living, Loving, Creating.

“What is Apraxia and Why Should You Care?” by Lea Ciceraro at Life, Love, and My Lens.

“Apraxia Awareness Day” by Kelly Bawden at The Hello Online Blog.

“Coffee and a Conversation” by Kim Bond Thompson at Craft, Create, Connect.

“Apraxia Awareness Day” by Katherine Sanford.

“My Daughter’s Story” by Annette at This Simple Home.

“Apraxia Awareness Day 2014” by Tori at Jake’s Journey to be a Little Man.

“Be Careful What You Ask For …” by Frederic Gray.

“Apraxia is Elusive, Even to Professionals” by Laura Smith at SLP Mommy of Apraxia.

“2014 Apraxia Awareness Day Video Contest” (playlist), winning entries by Emily Purdy, Jennifer Helm, and The Miesners on the Apraxia-KIDS YouTube Channel.

Review: Anything but Silent

Today is Apraxia Awareness Day. In place of my usual Wordless Wednesday photo post, I am sharing a book about one family’s experience with childhood apraxia of speech. If your life has been touch by apraxia in some way, I hope you read it too.

It’s been over five years since our daughter Anna was diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech, and before she was diagnosed we had never heard of this surprisingly common motor-speech disorder. We felt so alone. But we found help from fellow parents online and we found the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA). We weren’t as alone as we thought.

Fifteen years earlier, Kathy Hennessy had to grapple with this same diagnosis twice. Both her daughter Kate and her son Andrew had apraxia. Fifteen years earlier there was nowhere to go for support. The internet was in it’s infancy, and apraxia was little known even among speech language pathologists. I can’t imagine how alone she felt.

Bloggerhood Etc. 3/31/14

A Spring Break selfie

Spring vacation is over and I’m catching up with the Internet. Here’s the best of what I missed when I was away, starting with a small indulgence …

Best Self-Promotion. “Beautiful Whispers” by David Ozab at Why I’m Catholic.

And now on to the other posts …

Best Parenting Post (and Best Satire). “New Parenting Study Released” by Sarah Miller at The New Yorker.

Best Special Needs Post. “Just Enough Hope” by Jolene Philo at Not Alone.

Best Question. “Is Mars Hill Church a Cult?” by Elizabeth Esther.

Best Letter-to-the-Editor. “Awareness Needed for Childhood Apraxia” by Jennifer Warnock in the Newark Advocate.

Most Hopeful. “Hey Jesus, it’s Me. Your People Make Me Sad” by Natalie Trust.

Best At-Home Parent Post. “5 Ways for Stay-at-Home Parents to Get Back on the Career Track” by Carlotta Zimmerman at Huff Post Parents.

Scariest Post. “Why I am Not the Antichrist” by Boze Herrington at The Talking Llama.

Best Reading List. “6 New Memoirs About Sorting Through Your Faith” by Addie Zierman at How to Talk Evangelical.

Best Rant. “I’m Done—A Short Rant” by Robert Martin at Abnormal Anabaptist.

Best Essay (and Best Title). “Burn, Destroy, Wreck, Kill: Soccer’s Pig War Produces Spies and Battle Cries in the Pacific Northwest” by Matt Negrin at SB Nation.

Best Playlist. “Action Movie Kid” (via YouTube).

POW! BLAM! WHAM!

Bloggerhood Etc. 1/20/14

Image: Spencer Hall (SB Nation)

The best of the week, including three hilarious posts from SB Nation, which features some of the best sportswriting on the Internet, and three fantastic special-needs posts. Some weeks it’s so hard to narrow these down, so why try?

Best Diagram. “Hat Angles are Important: A Helpful Guide” by Spencer Hall at SB Nation (image above).

Best Guest Post. “Promise, an Apraxia Monday Guest Post” by Stacey Shubitz at Leslie Lindsay’s Speaking of Apraxia blog.

Best Microstory. “On a Bus Ride of Redemption” by Tamára Lunardo at A Deeper Story.

Best List. “5 Tips for Loving People Through the Loss of a Marriage” by Natalie Trust.

Best Special Needs Post. “Here be Dragons” by Robert Rummel-Hudson at Support for Special Needs.

Worst Pants. “Pantsform: Jim Harbaugh’s Pants, Reviewed” by Spencer Hall at SB Nation.

Best Statement. “I Am Not Diabetes” by Scott Benner at Huff Post Parents.

Best Win. “What Happens When the President Sits Next to You at a Café” by Robinson Meyer at The Atlantic.

Best Essay. “A Toast Story” by John Gravois at Pacific Standard.

Best End to a Trilogy. “Breaking Madden, 49ers vs. Seahawks: BEEFTANK’S Path to Self” by Jon Bois at SB Nation.

“Oh how good it is to have fled, to have become free!” —Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha.