Just a phase?

For the last 3 weeks, Cade has been screaming just about every other night for most of the night. On the off nights, I think he's so exhausted that he just crashes. My theories as to why include separation anxiety and teething. Lately, he doesn't want me out of his sight. If I put him down, he immediately screams. Sometimes, he calms himself and sometimes he goes into hysterics. I know this is just a phase but really hope that it ends soon. On top of everything, I'm pretty sure that he's teething. His bottom gum looks swollen and on a few occasions, I've been able to stop the screaming by using some Orajel. Needless to say, the entire family is in a continual state of exhaustion.
We took a mini spring break trip up north the weekend of March 15th. We spent a few nights with my parents and saw our friends in Duluth then went up to Chisholm. Everyone was happy to see Cade (and us I suppose). My parents baby sat for an evening and Sean and I got to go to dinner and get some coffee. When we reached the driveway, my mom called to say that Cade had been in hysterics for 45 min. Luckily, we were home and could calm him down. He was fine before he fell asleep but when he woke up he didn't see mommy or daddy and wasn't happy about it. My parents tried everything but nothing worked. Once we got home, he calmed down and was asleep again in about 15 minutes. He is definitely having separation problems or "stranger danger." He enjoyed all of his other time spent with grandma and grandpa. He also had a good time with our friends. We all had a good time actually. We always do. It's good to have close friends. It's just too bad that we don't see them often. We got to Chisholm in time for grandpa Phil's birthday. We got a chance to spend time with great-grandma and great-grandpa too. They were absolutely thrilled to see Cade and luckily Cade was happy to see them.
We headed home on Tues and then I got the stomach flu on Wed. I was sick from Wed night until this past Mon. Five days of having stomach problems is never a good thing. Sean ended up taking Thurs and Fri off to take care of Cade so I could sleep. I was so tired. But, I got better and neither of the boys got sick. We had a scare with Cade on Sun. He puked 3 times and we called the doctor. Sean made a run to Target for all the needed supplies (pedialyte, bananas, rice) but thank god there wasn't any more puking or diarrhea.
Cade is really getting around these days. He still isn't crawling with his belly off the ground but he can get wherever he wants to go. He follows me into the laundry room, goes after any cord that is hanging and tries to squeeze himself into small spaces. He is also able to feed himself Cheerios now. He's able to pick them off his tray and shove them in his mouth. Sometimes he gags on them which causes him to puke which is gross but he is learning.

I'm a McCutie