Cry-it-out progress...

At around eight and a half months my son went from predictably waking to nurse twice a night to crying for me every two hours or more and not necessarily nursing much, so I decided to give the cry-it-out method a try. We do a bedtime routine of pajamas/books/nursing, I put him down awake, I say goodnight and leave the room. He cries immediately and furiously, but after around ten minutes he whimpers to sleep and actually stays asleep till morning. Despite teething, he's finally sleeping for longer stretches than he ever has before. I'm surprised and happy with his progress and proud of myself for being firm, but when will the crying before sleeping stop? Now he is quicker to cry when I put him in his playpen during the day, when he used to be content to play alone. Anyone else dealing with a baby's separation anxiety at around nine and a half months? Anyone want to share their CIO experience? Or have a schedule image they want to share?