My husband once teased me for buying a small enameled egg at a flea market, but he was in for a surprise. I have always loved visiting flea markets, drawn to the idea of sifting through other people’s discarded items to find hidden treasures. This passion started when I was eleven, spending summers with my grandmother in New England. We would explore every flea market and street fair we could find, searching for what she called “preloved jewels”.
Even as a mother and grandmother now, nothing excites me more than rummaging through various stalls, hoping to find something special among the ordinary. My husband, Sam, is a kind and hardworking man, but he doesn’t understand my obsession. He often refers to my finds as “hoarder junk”, which sometimes causes tension between us. Despite his criticisms, I have no intention of giving up my weekend adventures with a budget of $20, determined to uncover a hidden gem.
Recently, Sam surprised me by asking to join me on one of my trips. It all started a month ago when I visited a nearby town’s street fair. I felt a thrill of excitement as I approached a modest display of knickknacks. Among the items was a small porcelain and enamel egg, roughly the size of a real egg. It wasn’t particularly beautiful, but I was drawn to it.
When I asked the seller how much it cost, he said $25. I gasped dramatically and offered him $5. After some back-and-forth, I convinced him to sell it to me for $10, and I felt a sense of victory as I tucked it away. After browsing a bit more, I headed home with my treasure in hand.
When I got home, I greeted Sam, who was skeptical about my find. He turned the egg over in his hands and discovered it was labeled “Made in Hong Kong”. He laughed and said I had been tricked. I felt a wave of disappointment but insisted that I liked it and heard something shifting inside.
With a quick motion, Sam pried the egg open, revealing a tiny bundle of red silk. As I carefully unwrapped it, I discovered a stunning pair of earrings nestled within. Although I initially thought they were just good fakes, Sam was convinced they were real diamonds after testing them with his breath, which didn’t fog up the clear center stone.
Excited, Sam suggested we take the earrings to a jeweler for appraisal. Despite my concern about the cost, we went to the mall, and the jeweler confirmed that they were indeed diamonds set in 18-carat white gold, possibly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. My head spun when he said they could be valued at around three million dollars at auction.
Incredibly, the earrings sold for three million! We now have a lovely nest egg in the bank, and the porcelain egg proudly sits on the mantel of our new home. Sam, once a skeptic, has become an enthusiastic flea market companion, joining me in the hunt for more treasures. We may not have found that Van Gogh yet, but we remain hopeful!
This story teaches us that one person’s trash can truly become another’s treasure. It also reminds us to respect and support each other’s interests—Sam’s mockery of my hobby turned into appreciation when we discovered the earrings together.
First-time mom is stunned when newborn baby lifts her head and crawls across the hospital cot
Three weeks late into this world, Nyilah Daise Tzabari arrived with an expediated plan to make up for lost time and get things done.
Lifting her head and scooting across her cot at only three days, Nyilah, a super baby, is evolving unusually fast, leaving her first-time mom and dad in shock.
Still in the hospital, baby Nyilah was captured on camera, lifting her own head and crawling in her cot.
She was less than three days old.
“The video was taken when Nyilah wasn’t even a full three days old. She was two and a half days old,” said first-time mom, Samantha Mitchell, of White Oak, PA, who added her wonder baby makes her feel like “she’s never had a newborn.”
Speaking with Kennedy News (though New York Post), the 34-year-old mom said, “I’ve babysat most of my life and have over 20 years’ experience with children and I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She continued, “I guess I’ve never been around many babies at three days old so there are a lot of (nuances) in it but I have never seen a baby like this ever.”
In the TikTok video, when Nyilah uses her tiny front arms to prop herself up and crawl, you can hear Samantha’s mom say, “no fricken way,” and Samantha, who sounds gobsmacked, saying “Oh my gosh. Mom! She’s crawling! Mom!…how does that even move?”
Responding to her baby’s cooing, Samantha says, “Well that’s what happens when you spend too much time in mommy’s belly.”
Born to parents Samantha and her fiancé Ofer Tzabari, Nyilah was three weeks late. She entered the world on February 27, 2023 at 7 lbs 6 oz and went viral when Samantha filmed her unexpected movements to prove to her family and friends that her baby was already crawling.
“My mother was the only other person in the room when it happened and she told me to record it,” Samantha said. “No one would have believed me otherwise. My fiancé wasn’t in the room, and I know if I didn’t get it on film, he would not have believed me…(The video shows) the first time I saw her crawl and I was in complete shock…The way she lifted her head too and was babbling left me in complete shock,” she added.
The video, Samantha’s first on TikTok, has 57.5 million views.
Fans were equally surprised about Nyilah’s incredible strength, and jumped in with comments like, “These new babies are different they come out crawling and be walking at 1 month old, talking at 3 months and getting jobs at 2yrs old.”
Another user jokes, “I would run out without the baby,” while one says, “Rumor has it she left on a plane a day later to live life.”
According to Healthline, most babies start to creep or crawl around six to 12 months. “And for many of them, the crawling stage doesn’t last long–once they get a taste of independence, they start pulling up and cruising on the way to walking.”
“Oh momma! you better get home and baby proof! that little is already on the move!!” One user wrote, cautioning Samantha on her quickly developing newborn.
“Sometimes I laugh and just think I wish she could be a baby,” Samantha said.
It seems like Nyilah is on the fast-track to growing up. At only 18 days, she was rolling from her belly to her back, at one month old, she was smiling at her mom, at two months she was rolling from her back to her belly, and at three months, she was slugging her mom with her powerful arms.
In an adorable video posted June 6, Samantha gets a mitten-covered fist to the face and giggling, she says, “Oh you punched mommy.”
In addition to testing out the strength of her arms, Nyilah is already standing with support, and mom predicts it won’t be long until she starts walking.
“Without a doubt, she will start walking soon. She stands at the moment. She puts so much weight on her legs. We’re not trying to make her stand. She just refuses to buckle her knees and sit down,” Samantha said. “She isn’t standing on her own yet, but she stands holding us and is always trying to stand.”
Also, Samantha shares that Nyilah is so strong, that she no longer needs her head and neck supported.
“I’m shocked every day by her. She tries to push herself out of her little chair and bouncer when we put her in it too…She is a very alert baby and has been since she was born. From day one her strength was very shocking to us,” the mom said.
Nyilah is turning out to be very chatty. At seven weeks, she tried to have a conversation, mimicking words spoken by her mom and dad, Ofer.
“We always say I love you to her and she seemed to be trying to repeat it to us and trying to say it. We couldn’t believe it. It is more like babbling but she is definitely trying to copy us,” Samantha said. “If she makes a noise and we laugh, she will keep making the noise because she knows we’ll react. She’s a very clever baby.
Nyilah is also a very happy baby.
“She is such a smiley, happy baby and laughs all the time. The second you smile at her; she starts smiling and laughing back at us. She is such a happy baby and I hope her videos make everyone happy.” Tzabari added, “For me, it was the first time I’ve been with a newborn, and I thought her actions were normal until people began to tell me they weren’t…I thought this was how babies were but actually her actions aren’t average for a baby of her age.”
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