President-elect Barack Obama got some important hands-on practice in one of the most critical of presidential skills: holding cute babies. In fact doing this properly is so critical to the success of a presidential administration that it’s often been said the sole reason Bush failed as a president was because his baby handling skills are deplorable.

I’m fairly surprised Obama spent so much time on his cabinet appointments instead of holding babies. This kind of lack of prioritization makes me worry about his commander-in-chief skills. But in all seriousness, I think random baby holding is one of the perks of the job. Though I bet it could lead to a lot of germs and colds. I hope those babies all go through some kind of rigorous medical exams before the future president touches them. And while they’re at it, a good poopy diaper inspection wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Some of these babies seem less than impressed. And a few are definitely not into all the commotion, or just have other – deeper, perhaps? – things on their minds. Here are the adorable photos.

Thanks to the Huffington Post for the story idea.