ashbrae3,
Have him checked over by your doctor to make sure there is nothing wrong medically that he can't tell you about. If that turns out okay, when he is crying for something and you don’t know what he wants, ask him to point to it but say what it is he is pointing at and encourage him to repeat what you said. Try to be patient and talk to him a lot, he might just be lacking the vocabulary to express himself. Watch little kids TV stuff and videos and point out words they are using for certain things. The answer to a lot of these little kid problems is usually lots of love, kisses and hugs.