OT: My 22 month old has turned into a whining, crying baby

We brought Danny home just shy of his first birthday last December and started early intervention with him probably like 2 months later because of all the neglect he suffered at the hands of his foster mother. One of the many things she started working on with him at the very end was speech with him and was not getting very far but considering his age I wasn't too worried he was so far behind physically that was our main focus. Well around September (21 months) he has hit the 2s and pretty much since December has hit them full force. My daughter has never been the whiner or even the cryer he is. He could win an award for some of the crying he does. Ironically if he can point to what he wants or say it (he is much more verbal at this point than his big sister was at this point) his crying will stop quicker but he will still stop. What works the most is trying to set limits and boundaries and actually lowering the tone that I speak to him in it seems to make him calmer I know it is not always easy especially when they whine sometimes all I want to do is put myself in a permanent time out till they tire of it themselves and sometimes just holding them will work as well and remind myself this too will pass. Good luck and know you are not alone we have all been there or are currently there with you. Julie ( proud mom to a princess and a prince)