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as a professional photographer, i wouldn't recommend the huge zoom lenses. they are super bulky and a pain to carry around! i never carry large lens on me! i would recommend a fixed wide angle or a fixed 50mm. there is a 1.4 ($375) or 1.8 ($108) that are great deals and they open up wide so they are good in low light!

I have the Canon 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 17-50 2.8, plus the two lenses that came with my camera (17-55 3.5-5.6 and 70-300 4-5.6). I basically only use the Sigma now, because it's versatile and works well in low light. The 50mm was a little awkward on my cropped sensor camera (yours is cropped, too) because I felt like I had to be too far away to frame casual pictures. I know lots of pros love it, and I would guess it's because they have full frame cameras, like the 5D Mark II.

My suggestion to you would be to look into renting lenses to see what you like. Some people love prime (non-zoom) lenses, and others don't. You can rent online from places like Borrow Lenses or Lens Rentals before you go making a big investment. Although the 50mm 1.8 is so cheap (relatively) that it's not worth renting, IMO.

@Mrsbells: sure! on your lens the widest your camera can open is to F3.5 when you're all the way zoomed out at 18mm and 5.6 when you're at 55mm. for the lenses i mentioned above, it's ALWAYs able to open to 1.8.

what this means in practice is that in lower light situations (with LO in the house, or photographing wildlife that moves) is that you can stop the motion of whatever you're photographing a little more or have a better quality image by not having to use a high ISO. say you're inside your house and wanting to take a photo of your child. it may not look too dark to you, but the camera says it is. with your lens at 55mm, ISO 640 and F5.6 being the widest your lens can open, let's say the shutter speed is 1/60, which is really the slowest speed you can hand hold your camera. You might find your images still a little dark, but all you can do is up your ISO (which introduces more grain and makes it looks gritty) or lower your shutter speed, which introduces more motion, so your little one isn't sharp because he/she is squirming around.

With the new lens, 50mm, F1.8, ISO 640, your equivalent shutter speed is now 1/640, so you can get your little one sharp or even lower your ISO to get rid of grain.

here's another kind of break down that i found: http://www.photoimagenews.com/plumbing.htm

and shutter speed explained with a photo: http://www.idigitalphoto.com/shutter-speed-explained/

i know that was a lot of info, but hopefully it's helpful!