Win some, lose some

I think it's largely attributed to the heat, but Knox is actually listening today. Down command successfully enforced in under a minute, even the "time" command has seen improvement. He loves to run away from me when I say time but I find that the more I do it (like 10 times in one hour)the more he understands that it's just a game of tag. The kids and I have also been hand feeding him and he has really softened his mouth. Question: he takes turns sleeping in the kids rooms (in his crate) but seems to have more trouble in the girls' room (quietly barking when he's first put in there or rising early), coincidence?? Also, he was barking at 4:30AM this morning and I don't get up til 5:30. I did take him out but did not "engage" him in any way. He only peeda nd didn't poop. Did he really need to go out or did he get bored? Can I blow him off until 5:30? The other problem is that he's likely to wake up the kids with barking at that hour. It's not even his loudest bark, you can tell he's kinda subdued, but anything seems loud at that hour.