After playing the Bird in several correspondence games, I'm still trying to sort out how to best use it in my repertoire.  My preference is for playing the Reversed Leningrad, but I have experimented with the Reversed Iljin-Zhenevsky and I'm comfortable with that, too.

My question is: is there a move order that guarantees that White can enter into a Reversed Leningrad (without worrying about an early Bg4)?  I've been looking at delaying Nf3 until after g3 and d3, but it seems like an awful lot of pawn moves that have no immediate or direct influence on the middle of the board.  I don't mind the I-Z, so should I simply play 2 Nf3 and let Black determine which variation I play?  I've always preferred to dictate the opening on either side of the board, but I wonder if I shouldn't be more patient and settle for the occasional I-Z.  Would welcome opinions and advice!