Hi A.,
Let me say I think you're doing a fantastic job. While the need for you to sleep is important you are responding to the needs of your baby gently and with sensitivity.
There's many reasons a baby gets up/nurses in the night. He might be hungry, lonely, thirsty, uncomfortable, trying to process all the amazing milestones he's making right now (teething, grasping, crawling, babbling, you name it!). Lots of things disturb their sleep. Crying is the only way they can communicate right now, and to ignore it completely is to tell him he cannot rely on you to meet his needs. So you're doing the right thing by responding to his needs.
I have a 9.5 month old who slept through the night for the FIRST TIME last night in her crib, at 7 mo she was like your baby, up to nurse every 2 hrs or so, in bed with me. I've read ALL the books because I work full time and for several months there was only getting about 3 hrs sleep. The one I found most useful was The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly. She has amazing recommendations for helping, in a loving and gentle way, your baby to learn to fall asleep on his own, settle himself back to sleep when he wakes up, and it works for crib or co-sleepers too.
Yes, babies do wake up and grunt and even can cry and still be asleep, but you know when your boy needs you. He will sleep in his crib/bed alone some day, some day soon he will not nurse. This is a short (but exhausting) time and you're doing a fantastic job. Good luck and here's wishing you and him better sleep.
A.