What could happen?

Does the baby stay home when you go to the Walmart? 

Fear can be irrational.  Be patient.  Respect your wife and give her some ground on this.  Your comfort zone comes with more time on the water than she.  There will be another time.  The baby won't know the difference.  The day will come when she will ask, "why don't you take jr and do something".

-YB

Josh,

Firstly, go for it! Also, there is some discussion threads here that I posted (you might want to search this forum for and likely info from way before my time) regarding taking my infant ( at the time 9 month) - some of the feed back was awesome, especial route planning and comments from those that suggest you don't take children in the backcountry?

My wife and I took our boy when he was 9 month  this past spring out for 2 nights on a 1 hr long paddle for the weekend to an island on a local lake. He was not crawling then so things were super easy. From there we continued and even went with others who had infants/toddlers and things were great. In early Aug. we hit Q for a week and that's when he was really mobile and still we all enjoyed the trip. TV doesn't interest him to sit and watch, but the colors of trees, sounds of birds and fire all make he sit and enjoy what the woods can offer. Feel free to send person post if you want other info and gear, portaging, etc.
Seymour

JD,
Take the little one out early and often. Short trips close to home to start with and work your way up from there. Get your wife comfortable with the idea and go from there. We started with our oldest at 10 months and added kids as they came along. Number 3 was 4 mo. old on her first Q trip - 2 weeks, along with her 2 and 4 year old siblings. In my opinion, kids are easier to take care of in the woods and safer to boot!
Good luck with the wife on getting her on board. Be kind and gentle, but tell her that it will be worth it in the long run.
My three oldest are in their twenties now and they constantly thank us for how we made it a priority to always take a 2 week family canoe trip every year to Quetico. It has made a big difference in their lives.
Send me a PM if you would like to talk or need help on anything.
GeneM

The local TV station just had a report about a baby/young child swimming course at the local YMCA.

Kids have no fear, we adults put it in them, well meaning or not.
They said the hardest part were the parents being over protective.

By the end of the course, they threw the babies in the water sans life jacket. The tots could turn on their backs and tread water without panicking. They could also make it to the edge of the pool and hold on.

I'd look into that, if it was available in your area. I can't think of a better gift for a young future paddler

Late update, jr. went with us and had a blast.  He wore his life jacket and when he wasnt being held by my wife he laid in a rubermaid tub lined with blankets.  It ended up being a great time.
Thanks for the help.
Josh