lots of crying for no reason

At about 1:30 pm I was taking some photos of Finnegan and he was unusually fussy. He kept crying, kicking his feet and was just unhappy.
I picked him up and tried to console him by playing with him and dancing to some Beatles music and he settled down for about an hour.

Then it happened, our first real meltdown. I had put him in his bouncer downstairs as I was preparing to take a shower and I heard the phone ring. I went and took the call while I could hear Finnegan starting to cry. A few minutes later I went down to him and he was really unhappy. He was crying some really big tears with a red face and wide open mouth while hands were flailing. I felt really bad and picked him up thinking that this would end quickly with a dry diaper. But I was wrong.

After 45 minutes of screaming on his part and 45 minutes of failed attempts to calm him on my part, it was time for drastic measures. I put him down and stripped him down to see if anything was hurting him. After a very thorough inspection he no sign of scratches, sores, or irritations other than some diaper rash. So, I gave him a massage and rubbed oil all over him to calm him down. It worked a little, he wasn't gasping for air anymore.

In a last effort of desperation, I wrapped him in a swaddling cloth and sat with him and tried to feed him. It took quite a while to get him to eat because he wouldn't stop crying to nurse. Finally he was nursing and he ate for a long time and then dozed off. I was relieved and held him in my arms for over two hours while he napped.

I don't know why he was so upset, it could be that he felt abandoned by me and then he was also hungry and he just couldn't stop cry once he started. But, I do think that holding his naked little body next to my skin is what really calmed him down and the eating helped too.

He's on his play mat again enthralled with the blinking musical star and stuff toys suspended over his head and I'm just thrilled that he's content again.