I have been asking myself that question for the last 16 months. (I have a 16 month old son.) It's incredible to think that the tiny squalling infant that is entirely dependent on benevolent adults will one day grow up to be one of those adults.
But for your more specific questions, at two weeks old the range of clear eyesight is about the distance to their mother's face as they nurse. That's about all they can make out. But I think at that stage the flashing colors (even though I think they can still only see black, white and red at that point) and lights of a television screen are distracting.
So at two weeks old, lots of quiet sing songy games at close range are about their speed. I used to put my son in his little vibrating chair and perform show tunes for him when he got fussy. The sound of my voice seemed to calm him. And remarkably enough, even in full toddler tantrum mode, there are still certain songs that quiet him right down if he's upset.
Babies definitely pick up on tones in voices and general moods in the atmosphere. There was a lot of anger and fear in our home for the first few months of his life. I tried to keep things calm around him but he picked up on the tension in the house and cried all the time when his dad was home. But once we left that environment and I was able to keep things around him peaceful, a lot of his constant crying ceased. He became a much more content baby. But he still picks up on every shift of mood around him so I have to be very careful about keeping my demeanor calm and collected in his presence. Children pick up on so much, long before we would give them credit for understanding.
