Not my pillow!!

I have discovered that my tactic for the big boy bed transition was well planned without knowing it!
First of all, know that my child DESPISED anything in his crib other than himself, his nuk, and his burpcloth!! Any previous attempts I made at putting a pillow or blanket in there with him had failed. He would immediately stand and throw them out. So, when I had purchased the new sheet set for his queen size big boy bed that had pictures of cars all over it, I thought maybe I would give him a pillow with his new pillowcase so he can call it his own. For about two weeks before the transition, I would place this pillow in his crib with him AFTER he woke up instead of trying to actually get him to sleep with it. He thought it was fun and would snuggle up to it and say, "nigh nigh". He would also point out every single car on the pillowcase and repeat the word car over and over again as he pointed. So, he realized that this pillow was his and his alone.
A couple weeks later, he saw his big boy bed for the first time and he was so excited about all of the same cars all over his bed. He immediately snuggled up to the pillow like he did when it was in the crib. I didn't realize until today that my plan to familiarize really worked. After taking his pillow on a trip with us and taking it off to wash when we got home, I placed the pillow without a case on his bed for nap time. As I watched him in the video monitor after putting him down for his nap, I witnessed him lay his head down first on the same pillow that he always lays on which was the one without the pillowcase. Within 2 seconds, he lifted his head up and looked at the pillow and scooted over to the other pillow that he NEVER sleeps on because it had the same pillow case. He doesn't like the other one because it is placed on the outside of the bed and not towards the wall where he likes to sleep. So it just proved to me that he knows what is his and prefers it and he knows that this is HIS bed because it has something familiar to him even though it is not his crib. So for anyone who will be transitioning in the future, this might be something to think about to make your child more familiar with his/her new settings.