From the opening piano and handclaps of "So Glad I'm Here," it's clear that Ida vocalist Elizabeth Mitchell was poised to make a soothing yet playful children's album with You Are My Sunshine. Diving into her role as mother, having given birth to her first child with Ida's Dan Littleton in 2002, Mitchell's tender and graceful nature with this disc of children's songs was surely connected to her new role as mother. Having first sung classic folk songs to children as a nursery school teacher in New York City, Mitchell took her time with the follow-up to Ida's You Are My Flower, also released on Last Affair Records. You Are My Sunshine was recorded between September 2000 and September 2002 in four different locations. While the first concept of the children's album was recorded haphazardly in one afternoon, this disc was born out of careful planning. The first session was recorded with Warren Defever in Livonia, MI, when Mitchell was six weeks pregnant, and other sessions were planned around her pregnancy and resulting motherhood. Retaining the same loving energy as You Are My Flower, Mitchell and Littleton tackled gospel, rock, folk and even reggae dub sounds for the record.