Taking a phenomenological approach, this study explores young children’s understanding of quantity beyond that which can be held in their hand. Descriptions of children’s mathematical experiences are held up against Pirie and Kieren’s theory of growth in mathematical understanding (1994), illustrating the fluid, dynamic nature of children’s ‘moving out’ and ‘folding back’ through various modes of understanding. A closer look at the Primitive Knowing, Image Making, Image Having and Property Noticing levels of the Pirie Kieren model considers the unique characteristics of each. Throughout, children’s actions and expressions, interactions with one another, gestures and facial expressions offer glimpses into the embodied, co-emergent nature of understanding. Specific to quantity, distinctions between discrete and analogue ways of knowing suggest understandings rooted in very different bodily experiences in the world.