Tough week

This past week has been rough.  Where did my sweet baby go?  The one who goes down to sleep without a fuss, eats just about anything, smiles at strangers, and plays happily by herself for up to 20 minutes or so while Mommy gets things done?

Eleanor has just been very fussy all week.  She has played by herself a couple of times, but for the most part she screams if I leave her alone, even if it's just to run to the bathroom.  She has also suddenly become skittish and afraid of loud noises.  She screamed like she had been dropped on her head the other day when I took a sticker nametag off of my shirt.  Yesterday afternoon she took her longest nap since she was a newborn - over 2 hours! - so I thought maybe she was just exhausted.  She was still completely grumpy when she woke up though, and she had a total meltdown during dinner.  She just cried and wouldn't eat anything, so we  skipped a bath and put her to bed early.  It took 45 minutes to get her to sleep, and 30 minutes later she woke up again, crying.  Fortunately after that, she did sleep through the night.  Whew.  I guess it could be a whole lot worse.

I have several theories...

• She is teething.  I actually don't think so because her gums feel exactly the same as when she was 4 months old.  I might feel a little bit of a tooth on the top, but I thought that 4-5 months ago.  I've given her Orajel a few times this week (hoping that was the problem!) and it didn't really seem to help.  It's certainly a possibility though.
• She's experiencing separation anxiety.  I think this is part of the issue - or at least, it explains her behavior when I try to leave the room.  She's certainly at that age.  But why didn't she fuss when I left her in a church nursery last Sunday with a person she barely knows?  Or cry when I left her with her Aunt Monica for a couple of hours on Tuesday?  There were small children at both of those places - did they distract her enough that she didn't mind being without me?
• She got held a lot this past weekend when we had family in town and misses that.  This is what I thought for the first day or two, but 5 days?  And good grief, I have held her plenty and given her lots of attention this week!  She does always seem happiest when she's around lots of people though.
• She has another ear infection.  I did call the doctor, but their first questions where about if she had a runny nose or fever.  No, and no.  She did have both of those things when she had an ear infection about a month ago.  If this continues though, I probably will go to the doctor on Monday to check.  She does grab at her ears constantly, but I think she got in that habit when she had the infection.  She was still doing it the day that the doctor gave her the all clear.
• She can't crawl yet and is frustrated.  This doesn't really explain all of the problems, but I certainly think it's true.  She keeps diving headfirst off of my lap or out of my arms, like she thinks she can crawl.  And yesterday she was actually playing happily by herself for a few minutes until I looked over and saw that she had landed in a strange little heap like she had tried to crawl but fallen on her face.  The screaming started a second later.  What do you do to help a baby crawl?  I try to give her plenty of floor time and even support her body while she moves her hands and feet so she can get the hang of it, but it doesn't seem to work...

Thoughts?  Brilliant ideas?  Commiserations?