WOW! First quilt?? You've done an amazing job. Now on to the quilting. My suggestion is that you mimic lines that you might see in real life. .... a knot hole in the tree, fur (pointy lines) on the belly.... clam shells in the sky (kinda looks like clouds). I did a quilt once that looks like the cross-section of our lake with loons on the top and fish swimming in the lake. There's even rock on the bottom to resemble the bottom of the lake.... oh, a log across the bottom that the fish like for hiding. Anyway, I quilted wavy lines for the water, with circles around the loons.... that's what you see in real life, a knot hole on the log and clam shells in the sky. And it turned out great. Everybody that sees that quilt loves it and says it's so realistic.
Do check the instructions so you quilt closely enough but I do agree that you need your quilting to be close enough to be durable for that new baby. It will get used and washed so often and close quilting will hold everything right where it needs to be.
So, have fun..... make it come to life with your quilting. That's what makes this hobby such fun. .... doing what feels right.