Ryuuko mostly confined herself to the indoors, yet the outside made her curious. Of course, when Nui tried to take her outside, she became frightened and hurried back inside. That happened a little while ago but she still seemed to want to explore the outdoors, especially since the leaves are starting to fall. Things outside the windows oft attracted her curiosity, yet, either because she didn't know how to or because she was afraid, she didn't open windows.
Nui simply thought it'd be best to take it slow and started by opening a window in her room, saying, "This is a window, Ryuuko, and windows are for looking outside." Ryuuko gave her an awkward look, while incorporating what she said to memory. Of course, once she did that, poked her head out, letting the wind blow through her hair. She seemed to have liked the feeling, as it prompted her to stick her head out of the window before bed.
It was a small step, admittedly, but it was a step to keep her from being afraid. The next step was to open the door to the backyard. She spent roughly the entire morning letting the wind blow through her hair and peering out of that door. Naturally, after doing that and watching the leaves dance around, she opted to crawl outside and stand, allowing the bare soles of her feet to touch the ground. She stood for a total of twenty minutes before dropping to knees and picking up a fallen leaf.
The object piqued her curiousity even more. She lightly fingered it before showing it to me. I promptly told her it was a leaf and, right then and there, something clicked. She studied the object intently before repeating the word "leaf". It started with enunciation and then followed with an accurate pronunciation of the word. She learned to connect the new object with the word she had just heard.
"Leaf!" she said, her eyes like gems. A new world beyond what she knew was opened and she was eager to be a part of it. She wanted to learn about all the things she was seeing outside. The leaf wouldn't be the only thing that fascinated her, as the grass also fascinated her and, as with most things, she touched it and resolved to taste it, swatting at me when I tried to stop her. Of course, she quick to declare it inedible and spit it out, saying, "Ee-uh." She padded towards a tree and stood up, reaching a hand out to touch its trunk. The feel of the texture fascinated her, as did the tree itself. I explained it was a cherry tree and that, in the spring, it will have blossoms. She turned to me and asked, "Cherry?"
"Yes, Ryuuko, cherry. It's a cherry tree."
"Oh."
She then hurried over to the fence and shook it. "That's a fence, Ryuuko. It's to keep you safe." Clearly, she didn't know the words "safe" and "safety" were two different things, as she asked, "Safety?" Nevertheless, she did seem to grasp its purpose and in doing so, she didn't attempt to scale it and just sat and shook it, apparently, wanting to hear the sound it made. For a moment, it seemed to she remembered something about the fence. What she remembered I don't know but, if she did remember anything, then she would might find that rather difficult to articulate.
The next day, Nui suggested that we'd take Ryuuko into town. I pointed out that doing that might cause overstimulation and make her frightened, citing when she was first taken out of the cellar. It gave Nui some pause before she asked, "Why don't we invite some of your friends over?"