Did I Really Just Become A Parent?!?!

Lately we've had trouble getting Ryan to lay down for bed and then to sleep through the night. When he was just a few months old he was sleeping through the night. I seriously thought we just had a great kid who just knew what was to be done and that we became very blessed in not having any problems like most parents do. And then one night he just stopped. Lately, he's up anywhere between 3-6 times a night. Needless to say, we're exhausted!
A friend of mine said it best when she said you just do the expected at the beginning (feeding, burping, changing, etc) and then it's like one day you wake up and realize you're a parent. You need to start disciplining and teaching them right from wrong.
Taking the advice of some people I went out yesterday and bought the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth and also Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. After reading both books for Ryan's age group we decided we would start last night. We laid him down at 7:00 and after screaming for 15 minutes he was out. He woke up later and we let him cry and 5 minutes into it he was again out. When he woke up at 2:30 I went in to give him a sippy cup of milk and he fell right back asleep. He then woke up again at 3:30 and again we let him cry it out.
With Ryan being almost 1 years old (yikes!!) we feel he should not be up that many times at night and that we have let this behavior go on to long and it has become to much of a habit for him. We feel we need to let him realize that everytime he cries someone will not come get him. We feel it is in the best for him and for us. For those who disagree with what we are doing, your opinion has been heard, but we as his parents need to do what we feel is best for us and our child. We also believe the sooner we break him of this habit the easier and better it will be for all of us. By making this decision for our child we have become just that much more of a parent.