Today (January 30, 2015) our family is celebrating a big birthday. Though it’s not the double digit kind, it’s enough of a number to give me a little pit in my stomach as I think about just how big my little girl has gotten. We are officially starting to count birthdays on two hands! At 6-years-old, she is as vibrant, imaginative, and as humorous as ever. She is the reason I started writing about kids’ music and a huge part of what drives me to continue on. She has taught me to look at life from so many different angles, and really listen to its music.

When Em started school this year, it was Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips who helped me get through her first day, and now, with perfect timing, they’re back to help us celebrate another special event with their latest single “H.B.D., Dude,” a totally radical “surfalicious-birthday-rock-n-rap for the inner child!”