I notice that when I log in my avatar - which is really a blue capital U often has some number above it. I have yet to figure out what the number refers to.
Weird… I am not sure what you mean… I just see a “U”?
That is probably the number of notifications you have. You get a notification if you have someone like your comment or reply to you. There are other things like badges too, I guess it depends on your notification settingso.