Sandra Bullock shares rare photos of children with late father on Father's Day

• Sandra Bullock shared rare photos of her children with her late father on Father's Day
• John Wilson Bullock died in September 2018 at the age of 93 from natural causes
• Bullock adopted Louis, now 16, in 2010 and Layla, now 11, in 2015

Actress Sandra Bullock, 61, paid an emotional Father's Day tribute on Sunday to her late father John Wilson Bullock, sharing a series of rare family photographs — including images of him cradling her two children, Louis and Layla, as toddlers.

John Wilson Bullock, a United States Army employee and civilian contractor for the Pentagon, died in September 2018 at the age of 93. Bullock, who is fiercely protective of her children's privacy, placed a brown heart emoji over daughter Layla's face in the photographs, while son Louis's face was partially obscured by his own hands.

The Father's Day post

The carousel opened with a throwback photograph of Bullock posing with her father at the Los Angeles premiere of Forces of Nature in March 1999, followed by the candid images of him with both children during their toddler years.

She closed the post with a black-and-white image of John in his military days. Poking fun at her appearance in the 1999 photo, Bullock wrote: "He loved me through my goth period… Loved on the loves of my life… And loved our country at 18…." She ended the tribute with: "Happy Heavenly Father's Day, Dad."

Bullock adopted Louis, now 16, in 2010, and Layla, now 11, in 2015.

Opening up about losing her father

Bullock has previously spoken candidly about the grief she experienced following her father's death. In December 2018, she reflected on losing her father and two dogs within weeks of each other during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Her father died of natural causes, while one of her dogs suffered a stroke and the other had a heart tumour. "Life, I realized, happens whether you schedule it or not," she said on the programme.

Though she initially believed she would cope, the grief eventually overwhelmed her. "And then a week later I'm in the bathtub crying and the kids are like, 'Is Mommy okay?' Everyone is like, 'Just leave Mommy in the bathtub. She's going to be fine,'" she recalled.

A pattern of rare family glimpses

Sunday's post follows a similar tribute Bullock shared last month for Mother's Day, in which she also offered rare glimpses of her children as toddlers. That carousel also included personal photographs of her late grandmother and her late mother, Opera Singer and Voice Teacher Helga Meyer, who died in April 2000 at the age of 58 after a battle with cancer.

"To all the mamas, No matter how you came to be," Bullock wrote in that post. "Happy Mother's Day. We are all bound by this honor of a lifetime." She added: "Mom and Omi, thank you for teaching me. We miss you Sorry I was such a brat."