Did I somehow do this with attachment parenting or is she picking up on how serious I am, too, or something? She laughs more than she used to, but we never got a real belly laugh until she was 6 months old and we have to work for them (though she'll laugh if I trip or something lol.)
No, I am sure you are not to blame for what you describe. Yes, a baby's personality is nature caused. Maybe the natured personality drives the parents' nurture which then reinforces the natured personality. But, I have seen enough babies pop out with their own pre-set personalities to know that you just get what you get, and I believe a good parent will parent the individual child.
Just had to respond because our baby did not laugh until she was almost six months old. Before then she would smile and get excited, but not belly laugh. She was a very serious baby, though. Once, a stranger asked me, "why so serious?" I started to answer that I had had a busy day, when she stopped me and said she was talking about the baby in my carrier. She got many of these comments, as well as the comments about how she appeared to understand everything, be listening to everything, or was taking it all in.
She also had severe stranger anxiety that started around three weeks and lasted a bit past 18 months. She was a baby that did not want to be held by anyone she didn't know. I did feel that she was making it very hard for anyone else to fall in love with her (what with the not ever smiling or wanting to be held.)
Luckily, she did aim to please in other departments. I'll never forget when she started doing what I asked around 6 months. First, she started clicking her tongue, and then she was doing everything. She could point to body parts and knew and handful of signs, words, and a bunch of animal sounds around then, and that was always a crowd pleaser. She had so many tricks.
(I remember an awkward moment when another mom asked me my favorite age. I immediately answered 6 months was the best because "they" start to do all these tricks, which I of course later learned is not even true for the majority of 12 month olds.)
I never classified her as intense or spirited, probably because she got so much relatively easier when we could communicate and her reflux disappeared. It is all about perspective.
