M.C.
Sounds like you are on the right track with the super cool race car bed! =0) With my kids, I did my best to make it really fun and exciting as well. We moved them from the crib straight to twin beds. My daughter was 2 and my son was only 18mths (he learned to climb!). I also did my best to keep the bed as similar to their crib as I could at first. For instance, my son had green crib sheets and many little stuffed "friends" in his crib. So, when I put moved him to his twin bed, I placed the bed in a corner and used a safety rail on the exposed side. I put a green sheet on the mattress, didn't use a pillow, used his exact same little blanket that he used in his crib, and even arranged all his little stuffed friends along the edges of his mattress just like they were in his crib. We had virtually NO transition at all because he felt so comfortable with all the similarities. Good luck and congrats on the big milestone!!! =0)