Mapping my teeth - a teething overview

Sam is teething. He's already sprouted his first two teeth (the bottom ones) at 5 months, but then we had a long break. Finally, at around 10 months we saw some more activity in the teeth arena. Some things that told us he was teething (and not suffering from another ear infection):

• Nursing more. Sucking felt good to his gums. But that's not true for all babies. Some hate the sucking because it hurts them more. YMMV. Even when he wasn't actively swallowing, he still sucked, albeit weakly. Sometimes he'd even protest if I unlatched him (this was going on for half an hour already, what was I to do?!). I found that if I unlatched him and immediately gave him a pacifier, he was happy.
• Biting every bitable and unbitable surface within teeth's reach. He'd waltz over to a cheer and start chomping on its legs, for example.
• Random crying outbursts. Sam doesn't usually burst out in piercing shrieks unless he's experiencing pain. Usually crying starts out at a leisurely 5mph whine, progressing steadily to annoying whimpering, culminating in a speedy full-fledged crying.
• Loss of interest in solids that weren't pureed. What he DID enjoy was frozen foods. Cubed peaches that were stuck in the freezer. I'd let them thaw for a few minutes until they were chunky but icy and he'd enjoy that.
• Pulling at ears. People usually associate that with ear pain, but according to Dr. Sears it's actually a teething sign. Babies that young can't pinpoint the source of ear pain. But teething pain radiates to the ears and that's what they're touching when they pull on them.
• While nursing he'd bang his head like a gavel.
• And one of the most annoying symptoms, which is actually related to nursing, is increased soreness and nipple pain. In the following paragraph I'll tell you why.

Imagine I just attached another set of legs to you, for example a set of crutches. You'd be pretty clumsy at first, knocking into everything in site because you haven't yet figured out your spatial bounds. Same with teething. Sam has to map out his new teeth. He suddenly has new little pincers in weird places where he's never had them before. He doesn't know how far he can go with them yet. So while he's nursing, his latch becomes a bit sharper because there are teeth in the way. After a few days, the soreness and discomfort subside because he's realized how to maneuver his teeth. Makes sense to me when I thought of it like this.