Editor's delay in reviewing manuscript
This can happen. There are journals where such decisions are made in meetings, and there is a substantial time between meetings. After all, editors typically have real jobs beside being editors. I am not saying that this is an efficient way of doing things, but it happens. In practice, if I sent a paper out I don't expect a decision within a year.

As to what to do about it, don't sent multiple messages to the editor. They have enough to do as is. If they are professional, they will just ignore your duplicate messages.