Misdirected play?

Since I know so many of you have special cats like Wendel I was hoping to get some opinions on something he’s started to do.

Since we got Wendel, I’ve been making a point of hanging out with him each day to get him used to me – usually sitting down to read or do a crossword puzzle with him. It’s been good in letting me figure out his “signs†that he needs a moment of space. As far as I can tell, the only real sign he has is he’ll change the way he flicks his tail (he has a very expressive tail) and sometimes tense a bit. I stop touching him the minute he does this until he re-initiates the touch.

Anyway, for to last two days, when I’m hanging out with him and we’ve finished our “love-the-cat†session, he’ll wander around then come back and lightly nip my hand (lighter than Sybil’s love bites, so I’m not too worried about that) then flop onto his side and reach for my hand with his paws, then bat or kick and my hand. He’s nicked me with a claw a couple of times, but never stops me from taking my hand away and shows no sign of actual aggression when doing this – he’s just flicking his tail around wildly and sometimes purring.

I think it’s an attempt to play with me and I’m just not built to play that way…but I just want to make sure it’s not a sign of problem behavior to come. What do you guys think? Early sign of aggression, mis-directed play or something else entirely?

Thanks. I figured it was probably play. It is a bit similar to something Cotton and I used to do - he would grab my hand, pull it in to him and just hold me until I rubbed his belly.

It looks for all the worls like Wendel's just seeing if I'll play with him, I just wanted to make sure this didn't sound like something darker to anyone else.