What are the small numbers above the word photo on my camera and how do I get rid of them?

They mallow you to select the lens. See the following from Take and edit photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

On your iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X and later, tap 1x for a higher-quality zoom from farther away. If you want to zoom more than 2x or finely control the image, touch and hold 1x or 2x to get a slider that lets you zoom all the way to 10x. On iPhone 11 and later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), and iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), zoom out to .5x with the Ultra Wide camera. 

You can't.

That is the only way that you can choose which lens to use.