Always challenge the child at least a little. Minor failures, in addition to introducing patience and goal setting behaviors, teach the child to keep trying to overcome problems. The helper image lasts forever and, if established early, can be particularly beneficial to family tranquility in the teen years. This establishes a comforting pattern of attention-getting in the child's mind. It also helps assure that the reading time does not get forgotten.
Babies enjoy the human voice.
Share yours by singing lullabies and folk songs and reading to your baby. As you read your child is forming a pleasurable association between books and your voice and closeness. Don't worry if your singing resembles a baying hound. Babies are not very critically gifted and any adults that are around should be singing too. Save the heavy metal sound for a few years because children's ears, through the teen years, are much more easily damaged than those of adults.