Imo it's not numbers at all but linked to our awareness of physical relationships

Making it about numbers is like making it about cans when it's more about grasping adding one can to a bag of cans, adding 100 cans (multiplication), or the inverse with subtraction and division

Which is why I never liked numbers before algebra which then chucks numbers in the bin more or less.

Numbers are just syntax meant to represent $anything; 1.5 can be half a pill and a whole pill or T or A; numbers are euphemism.

That they can be infinitely big and yadda yadda isn't that meaningful in and of itself and that little bigness is all due to additive qualities of physical space

Geometry is addition or subtraction of shape

It's all built on 4 operations we see in daily life all the time