Connection error message upon connect to Mac Pro iPhone 3G

Ive been getting the past message for the past week or so when I initially connect my iPhone to my Mac Pro: iTunes could not sync information to the iPhone my phones name because a connection could not be established to the iPhone . . . although, clearly, the phone has been mounted, since iTunes and iPhoto started up. As soon as I disconnect and reconnect the iPhone, everything is fine.
This seems to happen once a day or so, which is about the frequency with which I sync my phone with my Mac. Im running iPhone OS 3.1.2 and iTunes 9.0.1. Any ideas as to what could be causing this and/or what would be the appropriate fix? Like I said, I can get it to work -- its just annoying that I have to disconnect/reconnect.
Thanks.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.6.1)