The "A" with open notes is in second position, the "G" is in second position--you are on the money when you say this stuff is easier to see than to describe!The trick is that everytime you discuss something, you have to agree in advance as to what you mean when you say certain things--this comes from the fact that it can make just as much sense to refer one chord as a G-position(because the notes have the same relationship as in a G), an "A" position because the fingers are in the positions that are used in the A chord, or a "C" position because that is the actual chord that you are playing--
It is a bit like philosophy, where most of the discussion revolves around the definition of terms--the difference is that we have something we actually want to accomplish after the terms are defined--