Zippy does it constantly. I’ll be eating a tuna and cheese melt(her favorite), and she’ll come to my side, brush up against me, then raise one paw as if to say,“Don’t mean to bother you, but there’s a starving cat down here!”
If that doesn’t work, she’ll jump on my lap and try to get between me and my sammich.
My cat, Crow, likes to curl up and sleep on my chest when I lay on the couch to watch a movie. If he decides he’d like a little attention while we watch he will suddenly insert a paw IN MY MOUTH!
Yeah, that gets him some attention all right!
If the dog walks by the cat will often reach out with a paw and try to get the dog to play but the dog never does. Completely ignores the cat. Kinda sad.
Mine has learned that The Hands are the givers of attention and thus will simply stare blankly at you until you lower a Hand to head level. She’ll then grab The Hand with both paws and deposit it on her face. Scritches ensue, reinforcing this behavior.
When sleeping she’ll burrow her head oh-so-stealthily underneath my palm, forcing me to retract The Hands beneath the blankets if I want to be left alone. Even then, she’ll plaintively meow her sad little I can haz pets song.
So, er, yes.
Both of mine do this. I suspect the kitten learned it from her older housemate as a way to procure attention.
The big girl will wake you up with a gentle paw touch to the cheek to let you know it is time for breakfast. If you don’t respond, she will escalate pressure. If that does not evoke a response, nails will gently caress your face. She is a smart cat and doesn’t ever scratch, just lets you know that she is growing impatient with your need to sleep.
Pixel alternates between the head bump and flopping down and exposing her belly when she wants attention. Havoc takes the direct route, and either yowls at you until you pet her, or plants herself directly in front of the computer monitor until her RDA of skritches is filled.
The Siamese does. The blue Persian never- he growls.
Both my kitties do this as well as the head nudge. My girl will also pat me ever so gently on my face–it’s so adorable!
If we’re sitting at the dinner table for too long, Morgan will raise herself up on her hind legs and poke someone in the back with a paw. She’ll also poke us if she’s waiting for breakfast and thinks we’re taking too long to get out of bed in the morning.
Otherwise, neither of the cats does anything with their paws if they’re feeling needy. It tends to be a mixture of head butts, winding around the ankles or lolling around looking pathetically cute.
None of our cats ever did this. Although, if you were asleep and Midnight wanted something, she’d bat your face with a (claws in) paw.
Mine don’t do the paw raise that I know of, but Joule will slowly reach out and pet my face with her paw if I’m lying down and she wants to be pet. If she’s on the back on my computer chair and wants attention she’s taken to slowly combing through my hair with an outstretched claw.
4 year old Minerva (on the left) is a head nudger, or will just plain sit in your lap when she wants some lovins. It’s not often and it’s always on her terms.
4 month old Hai (on the right) takes paw raising to the extreme. If you bend over to pick her up, she’ll raise both front paws up to you, looking for all the world like a toddler demanding to be picked up. She also “swims” with both her front feet, if one person is holding her and she sees another person who’s not loving on her. She’s a total purr monster and little love.
Big’un and Littl’un also start with the paw-press. (This is only if I sleep well past my usual wake-up time.) If that doesn’t work, they stand on my chest. If I don’t get up at that point, they move away and meow at a distance, b/c they know I’ll toss them off the bed otherwise. 
What’s interesting is that they just seem to want things to happen on time. They want me to get up and go through the ritual even if there’s still kibble in their dishes.
Cats like things regular.
Littl’un is here on the desk, doin’ the paw raise. 
Both of our cats raise their paws to us, but not just to wave them in the air - Feather does the “paw gently touching face” thing, and Max does the “claws gently sinking into leg” thing. Actually, Feather does wave her paw around in the air a bit, when she’s propped up against my leg and waving the other paw around. I agree that these must be learned behaviours - Max learned from Feather to stretch her arms out and give Daddy a hug when he’s carrying her around (which is about the cutest thing in the WORLD).
We’ve had some that do and some that don’t. One that does (sometimes he forgets to retract the claws all the way). Ours haven’t waved paws in the air or raised them so much as sort of extended them towards us in a kind of “We have to talk” gesture.
My cat does something similar to this. He will start off by sort of petting my cheek with his paw. If I don’t respond, he brings out the claws and gently drags them down my face. If I still ignore him, he sets his paws on my cheek and slowly digs in his claws until I go, “Ow, goddammit!” At which point, he goes, “Oh, you’re awake! How fortunate! Please accompany me to the lavatory and turn on the sink for our morning ablutions!”
My cats have no idea that water comes out of a sink. I’ve seen what happens to cats who learn that.
Are we talkin’ about those terrorist paw bumps here?
My cat slaps me for more pets. And sometimes when she wants to get under the blanket.