It' is up once every rotation of the crankshaft. It's only up on the compression stroke every other rotation of the crankshaft.
Jerry You got it right the first time. With the connecting rod it has to go up the same distance each rotation of the crank
. Do as Jerry said and then use something that will NOT BREAK to feel down into the cylinder So you can tell then it is at tdc. Rock the crank back and forth and find the exact spot. I use a plastic drinking straw, It needs to be something that can't break so you can't loose a piece in the cylinder. Ed